


Praise Be To Alchemy

by deadturtle



Category: Monster Girl Encyclopedia, アトリエ | Atelier & Related Fandoms, アーランドのアトリエ | Atelier: Arland Series (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, alchemy is pretty overpowered, lewdity is mostly implied and glossed over
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-10 12:32:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 82,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13501734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadturtle/pseuds/deadturtle
Summary: The alchemists of Arland developed their first inter-dimensional warp gate. And by pure chance, the dimension they connected with was the world of MGE. After knowing what a dire state the world was in (for the humans at the very least), our heroines simply couldn't abandon them. Alchemy had changed entire nations before. But could it change an entire world? Post-Atelier Meruru.





	1. Chapter 1

In an underground room buried beneath the Earth, a certain monster was being imprisoned. The place was a high security prison, built specifically to keep monster prisoners. The true identity of the imprisoned monster was kept secret, even from the guards themselves. And they only guarded the entrance from any unauthorized entry. The inside was guarded automatically by certain mechanisms set to trigger if the monster ever escaped.

And today, said place was having its sole authorized visitor.

"You're finally awake. Good, good, I have so much to ask you. How do you feel? Any nausea? Pain? Weakness in the muscles and nerves? Headaches? You have to tell me  _everything,_ " the bespectacled women said with a grin to the chained succubus in front of her. The monster was suspended mid-air, chains tying both her hands and legs apart.

"Sorry about this accomodation by the way," the woman continued, her grin still plastered on her face. "I don't really like doing this sort of barbarous treatment to my research subjects but one just can't be too careful around your kind, you know. Especially after what you just tried to do to my dear apprentice."

The succubus smiled in response.

"If you hadn't come, I am sure I would've turned her into a monster, even with her poisoning me beforehand. How unfortunate for her. She could have enjoyed an eternal life of pleasure."

"Hmm, I don't know about that. She's quite the pure type, you know. She doesn't think about that kind of stuff. She's in her thirties and she still has no thoughts about romance or marriage whatsoever. She's perfectly happy on the way she is now. Just the way I like it," the woman replied, her grin turning perverted near the end, a fact that the succubus immediately caught.

"Bah, what a joke. You're no hero. You're just as perverted as us monsters. You're a hypocrite for following those Order fools. You belong to us, beings of freedom and pleasure."

"Oh, I am no hero, I am just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill genius alchemist. And you break my heart by putting me in the same basket as those zealots. I don't care about their gods and religions. As an alchemist, I only care about the truth of the world."

"Then why do you-"

"Because my dear apprentices want me too, that's all," she interrupted her. "They're quite big on the whole 'saving people' thing, you see. I'm more big on the whole 'research' thing personally, and this world is simply terribly fascinating. Well, at least, until you came and tried to corrupt my apprentice that is."

The woman took out a syringe from her coat. Pointing the needle towards the succubus, she pressed the device, resulting in its needle to extend all the way towards the exposed stomach of the succubus, stabbing her skin.

"Gah, what are you-"

"Shh, it would be over soon. Then we'll get you your candy, all right?"

The injection only lasted for a couple of seconds, and the needle retracted immediately after it had done its job. She then stored the syringe back inside her coat pocket.

"Another dose of my patented anti-demonic energy drug," the woman explained cheerfully. "I won't bore you with the details but basically, it would cause the demonic energy inside a monster to be converted to spirit energy. And of course, it would also prevent said monster to convert said energy back to demonic energy. If my drug is working, which it should be, since I'm a genius and all, you should be feeling really quite starved now."

Hearing that, the succubus finally noticed the state she was now in. She felt not just a terrible hunger, but she also felt terribly weak. She couldn't muster any strength to use any of her demonic spells. She also felt terribly sick, something that should be impossible for a monster her caliber to experience.

"Oh, and I also gave you some Dark Water in the side as well, just for safety reasons. As I expected, even in a weakened state like you are right now, your body still manages to resist its myriad poisons fairly well. The physique of a lilim is truly fascinating."

"Y-you... you know who I am?"

"Of course. I've read all about you, you know, thanks to the handy book made by that Wandering Scholar guy. You're Druella, one of the daughters of the Demon Lord. A powerful lilim responsible for the fall of Lescatie. And now, you're trying to do the same to this kingdom."

Druella smiled hearing that. She had put monsterization spells into copies of that book. If she was studying it, that meant sooner or later, she would-

"Oddly enough, the book possessed a monsterization spell in it. And cleverly, the person responsible for it only put the warning right at the very end. Thankfully, me and my apprentices had vaccinated ourselves against any demonic energy incursion, so there was no lasting damage."

"V-vaccinated?"

"Not exactly a vaccine in a traditional sense. We simply have developed a medicine that would give women the capacity to produce spirit energy at the same rate as men did. It also had a secondary effect of turning off their spirit energy absorbing capability as well, though we didn't need that as we came from a world where humans did not need spirit energy to live."

"So that's why they were reports of female adventurers smelling like men..."

Druella had heard from her subordinates of the unnaturally strong women warriors that they had failed to convert. Even when they had received multiple wounds where they had injected demonic energy into, they were not affected by it. They could also enter Demonic Realms without being affected by its energy as well. And her subordinates always reported that they smelled like men, which confused them to the end.

"Well, time for me to ask the questions," the woman interrupted her thoughts. "So, I ask you again? How are you feeling? This is really important for my research, you know. If I could perfect this drug, then I would be able to use it on the Demon Lord so we could finally fix her shoddy job at saving the world."

"Ha...hahahahahahaha!"

Instead of answering, Druella simply laughed, her beautiful monster face twisted by scorn and mockery. "So that is your ultimate goal. Then once again, I would say, there is no reason for us to be in conflict. You should despise the Order and their Chief God more as they would never allow a world where humans and monster co-exist. When they realize your true goal, they would surely betray you and your apprentices, dub you "witches" and "monster-sympathizers", heretics to be burned at the stake. The Chief God created us monsters to cull humanity's numbers. And yet those foolish humans still worshipped him, while scorning Mother who wished to create a world of everlasting peace where humans and monsters could live together in harmony."

The woman paused for a second before answering with a smile on her face.

"Then let him come. Gods or demons, there is nothing in this world that cannot be studied by alchemy. In my eyes, the world both your kind and the Chief God want stifle the potential of humanity. In my world, we don't have gods to dictate our actions while demons are just monsters to be hunted down by adventurers. And currently, it is experiencing a massive growth, thanks to the efforts of my apprentices who wish to use alchemy for the good of everyone. And they wish to share that growth with this world as well. And as their good master, I would support their efforts to the very end."

"...Naive. You are terribly naive. You don't know just how strong the Chief God is. Every day Mother is building her power just so she could tear down the remains of the world order he has created."

"We'll see about that."

A beep suddenly echoed in the silent room. It came from the clock the woman was carrying in her cloak.

"Oh, look at the time," she said as she looked at the clock. "I have to go now. Be a good girl and stay here nicely, alright, my dear test subject?" she said with a grin.

As the woman turned her back on the succubus, Druella tried as hard as she could to free herself from the chains that kept her. Unfortunately, the chains were made out of alchemic steel, far stronger than any ordinary steel and it possessed a self-repairing property, meaning it would never rust and it would never weaken. The clasp attaching them to the walls and the walls themselves were made of a similar material. And if she somehow managed to pull the chains free, the bombs installed all around the installation would trigger. And that was after the micro bomb that had entered Druella's body exploded.

Such was the terror of the genius alchemist, Astrid Zexis. She had personally asked for the construction of the facility. The ordinary prisons the kingdom already had were woefully inadequate to keep a monster, especially someone as strong as Druella. Thankfully, the local authority was quick to respond to her requests. This human kingdom was a small one, and the Order didn't have much influence in its walls. When Astrid and her apprentices showed all the miraculous things they could create with alchemy, the king, who was never that religious to begin with, quickly signed the deal of co-operation with them. The populace was soon taken over by alchemy as well, as their daily lives were quickly improved thanks to the tools they made. Word soon spread about these mysterious visitors, especially after they had created their vaccination potions. The Order soon sent their agents to check whether or not any heretical demonic magic was involved, but they couldn't find anything. They ended up leaving with more questions than answers. In the end, their presence caused a schism in the Order, with one side believing they were not to be trusted and the other side believing that they were the key for their war against the monsters.

Of course, the word soon spread to the monster side as well. That led to Druella going out from her hiding to investigate. She was confident in her ability to infiltrate the kingdom. If she could freely go inside and out of a deeply religious kingdom like Lescatie that was filled with monster-hating heroes, it should be no problem for her to infiltrate such a small and lightly defended country. Little did she know that the humans there had set up their unique monster-detecting tools, something entirely different to how the Order's barriers worked. The tool could even detect how strong the monster was, and at her level, it was ordered that only them, the alchemists from another world, were allowed to fight her. It was to protect the weaker humans from being corrupted, as they wouldn't be able to fight a monster at her caliber after all.

And so, Druella came in, right to where their atelier was, pretending to be a customer. Only Rorona was there at the time, and she, being the quite airheaded woman she was, didn't suspect anything until she saw the normally white crystal sitting on her table shining brightly with pitch black darkness. And so, she offered the lilim a glass of water that had already been spiked with the anti-demonic energy drug. Druella, not suspecting anything, thanks to Rorona's near-childlike temperament and the water not tasting or looking any different, drank it all. As expected from a lilim however, she didn't immediately drop down unconscious like any ordinary monster would do if they drank that much of the drug. But it was enough that it weakened her to the point that Rorona and Astrid, who had her own atelier, managed to subdue her without much collateral damage.

And now, here they were, with Druella being kept as Astrid's prisoner. Astrid had made sure that no one except her would be allowed inside. She wouldn't even allow any food or drink to be brought to the monster. She knew that even in her underpowered state just how dangerous she was. This, of course, was kept secret from the public, or else the Order would demand her to execute the demon at once. That would simply not do. Astrid needed her to be a test subject. That, and she also wanted to punish her for daring to steal her cute apprentice away from her.

Once outside, Astrid began to muse over the next steps that they had to take as she walked towards the castle. The higher ups in the Order wanted to use them in their war efforts to retake Lescatie. But she felt it would be more efficient to just go straight to where the Demon Lord was. They were growing impatient, especially after they had heard of what they were capable of in combat. Hypocritically however, they wanted all of their female members to be given said vaccination potions while they didn't want to force all of their male members to drink the other potion that would kill all of their sex drives, even though she had assured them that the effect was temporarily. Perhaps they thought their members were strong-willed enough to deny any advances from a monster. Perhaps it was even necessary to refuse the potion, since taking it would mean admitting that they all could fall to the monsters' temptations at any time. Astrid chuckled at the thought. This misguided zealotry just amused her more than anything. However, said zealotry could turn dangerous if what that succubus said came true. Hmm, what precautions she should take?

 _Bah, this is why I detest politics._  
  
She threw her arms up in the air, giving up on the problem. She would have to ask that man's advice once again. Oh, how she hated asking for favors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Astrid might be an ephebophilic pervert, but she would never want her disciples to be turned into sex-crazed monstergirls. And now she's really pissed off at Druella for trying that kind of shit to them.
> 
> And one simply do not piss of Astrid.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hah, is that all? You guys are supposed to be heroes yet you are all this weak? What a joke!"  
  
In a wide open field somewhere near the kingdom's capital, a training routine was in progress. It wasn't just any ordinary routine however as it was training those so-called heroes, the strongest warriors humanity had to offer. Indeed, a group of heroes had arrived from many other Order-controlled countries. Some came with official orders by their priests, while others came on their own volition. Why they came, you ask? Well, they had caught word of the rumors on how extremely strong warriors had appeared in this country, and they came to investigate the truth to those claims. Some of the rumors they had heard were simply too outrageous and unbelieveable for their ears.  
  
But now, here they were, all sprawled on the ground, having being beaten by a single person.  
  
Gisella Helmold. Back at Arland, she was known as the legendary adventurer. Her strength was so immense that there were tales of people getting nightmares for three days straight if they ever saw her fight. And today, those heroes tasted that strength as well.  
  
 _Urgh, how did we lose? We all have trained so hard and we have the blessing of the gods with us. But this woman... this woman simply surpassed all of us. Her strength... her speed... we couldn't keep up at all... She couldn't be just a normal human... she must be blessed by the gods as well..._  
  
The truth of the matter was, she was simply that strong. She was born with extraordinary strength and she developed that strength throughout the years to monstrous levels.  
  
All around them were various craters made by their fight, some still with smoke coming out of them. After taking them down one by one, Gisella told them to take her all on at the same time. She even said to them that they should not hold back whatsoever. And so a one versus twelve battle ensued. The heroes didn't just consist of frontline combatants. They also had mages and clerics with them. Your typical hero parties in short.  
  
The moment the battle started, Gisella went straight towards the clerics. Normally, she would prefer engaging the frontliners first as she had no interest in taking on weak opponents, but this training was supposed to prepare them for their future fight against the monsters. And she already knew just how cunning the monsters could get. They would use traps and target the weakest link of the party first. For someone who was said to possess monstrous strength, she was perfectly happy to play the role.  
  
The first cleric she targeted managed to block the swing of her scimitar. However, surprise and fear were clearly visible on her face, as she could feel the staggering difference between her and Gisella's strength. Grinning, Gisella used her right feet to kick her straight on her stomach, making her fall down to the ground from the force.  
  
"Kyaah!"  
  
"Lumina! Don't touch her, you bastard! Your opponent is me!"  
  
One hero wielding a sword immediately lunged at Gisella. He was clearly mad, judging by his expression. Gisella smirked. Clearly, this boy had a thing for that girl.  
  
She blocked his slash with ease by her own scimitar. However, one of the other heroes, the one with a spear, attacked her from behind. She dodged the sluggish attack (by her standard anyways) by merely jumping to the right. The barrage of attacks weren't over however as the hero archer aimed at her as well, unleashing a barrage of arrows right at where she was. Too bad for her that her arrows were either dodged or slashed mid-air by the adventurer. The holy blessings the arrows possessed meant nothing to the adventurer.  
  
"Thunderbolt!"  
  
Lightning suddenly came down from the skies, striking Gisella right where she stood. She received the attack fully to the joy of the young mage who had casted the spell. However, her smile soon was wiped off her face as Gisella was barely affected by her spell. She was still standing there, a proud expression on her face.  
  
"Good! That's more like it! That actually hurts a little!"  
  
Such was the strength of the legendary adventurer. Some said her strength rivaled those of the king, who could take on entire armies by himself.  
  
The rest of the battle was as lopsided as you would expect.  
  
The heroes were able to land some blows to her, but her insane endurance was simply too much for them. And so when the ashes cleared, and their battle ended, she was the only one standing.  
  
"That was quite good though! I actually had to use my full strength back there! However, if you bunch are still on this level, I don't think it would be a wise idea for you all to challenge any of the high-level monsters. If you were to encounter something like a Baphomet, you would just lose. I should know since I actually fought with one before."  
  
"Y-you fought one before?" one of the heroes said as she struggled to stand up. She was a blonde swordswoman, wearing your typical knight armor and a cloak. Said armor now had a chink on it, the place where Gisella knocked her to the ground with the butt of her scimitar.  
  
"Yes! Wanna hear about it?" Gisella replied with a smile. She always loved to share the stories of her adventures to others, especially with her family back home.  
  
"Yes, I would love to!" the girl responded, enthusiasm clearly reflected on her blue eyes.  
  
Unfortunately for her however, they were cut short by the arrival of another Arlandian. Her name was Esty Einhart, a female knight and the right hand of the king. Even though she was a knight, she didn't wear any armor like you would expect a knight would. For a person on her level of strength, bulky armor was more of an encumbrance than a boon. And besides, her fighting style was more like an assassin than a knight. She used a pair of dual blades that she had mastered to the extent that she could juggle them freely in combat, to accompany her amazing acrobatics ability. She preferred speed and precision over strength, so her combat style was closer to her king than that of Gisella.  
  
"Oh, are you done here?" the female knight said with a smile on her face. Seeing all the heroes in such a state was enough for her to know that Gisella had taught them her lesson.  
  
"Yeah, we're done for today. Don't think these guys could go on after that," Gisella replied with a grin.  
  
"Good. Astrid's looking for you."  
  
"Ah, that woman. What does she want this time?" Gisella sighed. "Really, just because she saved my life that one time doesn't mean she can keep calling me for favors like this."  
  
She then turned to the hero girl and said, "Sorry, Gabrielle. I have to go now. I'll tell you all about it later, alright?" She waved her hand to her before starting her journey back to the capital. The girl called Gabrielle could only stare at her as she was too weak to move with her current wounds.  
  
"Now, let's get you all patched up, alright? Here. I got medicines for you all," the female knight said, still with her usual smile. Such a straightforward training method was just to be expected from Gisella.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gisella is pretty strong indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

Water, the source of all life. Without it, nothing could flourish on this world, and everything shall turn into rock and dust. Life itself depended on its continuing existence. And that too applied in this world.  
  
Lake Skavaragd. The main water source for the landlocked kingdom. Its importance could never be understated. Without it, the kingdom would be ruined as its citizens would lack the water they needed to sustain their livelihood. That was why when they detected that demonic energy was beginning to corrupt its pure waters, they immediately sent its best agent to handle the situation. Unfortunately, the source of the water lied far deep into monster territory, places where no human dared to tread unless they wished to be corrupted by them. They had been expeditions to there before but none succeeded.  
  
A perfect place for someone like Totori to tackle.  
  
Totooria Helmold, better known as Totori, was one of the greatest adventurers Arland had ever known. Not only she was responsible for the discovery and mapping of various previously uncharted regions of Arland and beyond, she was also the one who defeated the kraken Flauschtraut, restoring the sea route to the far eastern continent, and the infamous tower demon that had massacred thousands of people in the distant past, a feat that her mother, the legendary adventurer Gisella Helmold, had failed to do. Exploring uncharted places and defeating whatever monsters lurked there was simply her forte. And even if she was now in a different world, that fact would never change.  
  
And here she was now, trekking the mountains where the source of the water flow should be.  
  
Trees were all around her, obscuring her sight in all directions. The grounds she walked were unpaved, filled with rocks and tree branches and other things that would trip any amateurish adventurers. It was clear that this was a place untouched by human civilization. With a compass in hand, accompanied by her instinct as a seasoned adventurer however, it was nothing she couldn't handle. She had experienced travelling inside all sorts of forests, from normal forests filled with wolves and squirrels to tropical ones filled with giant bugs.  
  
This forest was quite unique however as it was home to a bunch of plant monsters. There was Matango; giant mushrooms who would entice and corrupt humans with the spores they spread in the air. She had to be careful not to inhale too much of the spores as there were still limits on the capability of her spirit energy to repel the demonic energy entering her body. That was why she now walked around with her demonic energy detector out, to make sure that she wouldn't be caught off-guard by any incoming spores. And if she had to walk through an area with many spores, she would use an Air Drop, a candy that generated oxygen so she wouldn't have to breathe the air. Originally, it was only used to travel underwater, but it could be used this way as well. Then there was the Alraune, another kind of plant monster who also adopted a similar approach of "waiting for their prey" similar to the Matango, using their sweet scent for males and their pollen for females. The same method of protection applied to it. Mandragoras also existed. Once again, she simply had to be careful not to be tricked by their sweet scent and uprooted them by accident.  
  
 _No wonder no one ever made it through here. This is pretty bad._  
  
So far she had seen a couple of those Matangos. But thanks to them being rooted to where they were, it was easy for her to avoid them. Sure, she could just bomb them to oblivion, but she preferred to not waste any of her tools on random monsters who had nothing to do with her goal.  
  
And besides, she didn't really want to kill any of them.  
  
She could kill normal monsters just fine. However, this world's monsters had gained sapience, thanks to the new demon lord's power. And they had a plan to use that same connection she possessed to turn the monsters peaceful so they wouldn't assault humans anymore. And so, if she didn't really need to, she wouldn't take their lives.  
  
Suddenly, the adventurer stopped in her tracks. In front of her was a Matango, blocking her path to go forward. She didn't see any other viable paths so she had to take care of her if she wanted to continue in her way.  
  
The matango was trying to camouflage herself, pretending to be normal mushrooms before ambushing her once she got close. Too bad for her that her amateurish attempt at an ambush was merely a cute joke in front of an experienced adventurer like her.  
  
After making sure that there weren't any other monsters nearby that was waiting to ambush her, she ran right towards the monster. Thanks to her Speed Belt, her speed was far above those of ordinary humans. Before the monster could do anything, she hit the creature right on her face with her staff. Normally, this wouldn't do anything thanks to her weak strength. However, her staff was made a special alchemically created wood that enhanced her hitting strength far beyond how it should be. At the same time, it also carried in it the capability to poison whatever it hit, wounding it internally while putting it to sleep and giving it paralysis.  
  
The matango took the full blow, not even realizing that she was being attacked until it was too late. It lost its consciousness with a single hit, and the sleep and paralysis effect made sure she would stay that way for a while. Monsters had quite the amazing resistance to such things so even if she had poisoned her, Totori was sure the matango would recover.  
  
Her naked body fell to the ground, with her "legs" still attached to her mushroom root, making her sleep in quite the uncomfortable position. Looking at the girl she had hit, Totori's mind couldn't help but think about how gross this whole thing was. Transforming monsters into sex-crazed half-human half-monsters like this, the new demon lord really had created monsters more monstrous than how they were originally.  
  
Totori sighed. Their project of creating an artificial demonic energy was slower than she had wanted. Synthesizing such a thing was simply unlike anything they had ever done before. They never had anything like it in their old world, so this was a totally new thing for them. But it was the only way that they knew on how to save this world and end this conflict without unneeded bloodshed. They could just kill the demon lord but it would just turn all the monsters back into their original feral monstrous forms, including those that were already in relationships with humans, or at least, that's what that book said anyway. So their goal was to perform another grand transformation to the entire monster race. In the same vein as how the demon lord added her succubic demonic energy to every monster in the world, they would add their artificial demonic energy to every monster, taking away their insatiable need for spirit energy and sex, turning their mentality closer to normal humans, as well as fixing that little kink of monsters only being able to birth female daughters. And they had two theories on how to do so. One, they could use the body of the demon lord herself, changing her demonic energy to the kind of energy they wanted. And the other, they could create their own demon lord, using the already existing technology of homonculus creation. Then they would dethrone the current demon lord and put their homonculus on her position. Unfortunately, both were still out of their reach for the moment.  
  
She continued her journey through the forest, dodging a couple more monsters in the process, Eventually, she finally arrived at her destination, the spring where the water of the lake originated.  
  
And right away, she identified the source of the problem.  
  
An undine was bathing in the water stream, accompanied by a succubus as well. The undine clearly had fallen, looking at the murky body she possessed. With the ability of undines to bless springs with their power, she must have been the cause of the prominence of demonic energy in the lake. If left alone, it could become very dangerous indeed.  
  
"Hey, you guys!" Totori shouted.  
  
The two immediately stopped their chat and looked at the source of the voice. The undine look scared while the succubus looked amused at the new arrival.  
  
"Do you guys mind if you don't bathe here? You're polluting it with your demon energy, you know!"  
  
"O-oh, what should we do, Lily?" the undine said to the succubus. "Y-you say no one would be able to get here!"  
  
"Calm yourself, Mary. This girl doesn't look that strong. Even if she has made it this far, I'm sure I can take her on."  
  
The succubus then flew to where Totori was with her wings. Totori immediately stepped back the moment she closed in on her.  
  
"Aaw, don't be shy," the succubus said in her usual seductive tone as she landed a couple meters away from the alchemist. "You're really quite cute, you know. How unfortunate that your body is quite underdeveloped, though I suppose there are guys who like that too, at least according to those Sabbath maniacs. Oh well, that could be fixed easily once I turn you into a succubus. Then you can be a busty adult lady like I am!" she said as she posed provocatively, pushing out her well-endowed chests, accentuating them even more.  
  
"Umm, no thanks. I'm fine the way I am now," Totori replied with a forced smile. On her mind, she already readied herself for combat. Monsters rarely ever listened to reason, especially the aggressive ones like this.  
  
"Hmm, you know? Come to think of it? You have an unusually high amount of spirit energy. It's as if you're a man or something. Ha, that sure would explain why your chest is so flat! And if you're a man, then that would be even better as I'm really hungry for some warm and thick spirit energy right now. And I do have a thing for feminine little men..." the succubus continued, licking her lips at the end of her sentence.  
  
"Eew, gross..."  
  
"H-hey, it's rude to shame someone for their sexual fantasies, you know," the succubus replied, somewhat flustered. "Bah, fine! I don't care anymore! Whether you're a man or a woman, I'm going to teach you the pleasures of the flesh that your prudish self could never imagine!"  
  
The succubus lunged at the alchemist, tentacles suddenly appearing out of her body. She intended to violate her immediately. The scent of her spirit energy was starting to intoxicate and arouse her, and she simply couldn't hold back anymore.  
  
Totori stayed calm however, and she simply responded by taking out some sort of egg made out of stone from her handbag. The egg was colored black with red engravings on it. She then threw it to the ground, cracking it into pieces.  
  
A surge of energy appeared in front of the alchemist, giving a halt to the succubus. From the egg manifested a spirit in form of a gigantic ruby-eyed green-skinned humanoid female. Spirit Stone. Just like the name suggested, it was a stone with a spirit sealed inside. Shatter it to release an angry spirit against your enemies. And the version Totori used here contained a really angry gem spirit.  
  
"What the--"  
  
The succubus immediately backed off, looking absolutely baffled at what she was witnessing in front of her. It looked to be some sort of spirit but she never met a spirit like that. And for starters, how could a human summon a spirit like that in the first place? She couldn't sense any spirit or demonic energy from her too!  
  
"Hey, who the hell are you? This girl is my prey so back off!" she shouted to her.  
  
The spirit didn't respond with words. Instead, she summoned many gems all around her red cloak-like twin wings before hurling them over towards the succubus, who had summoned her own surge of black tentacles in response. The two attacks cancelled each other. However, the spirit wasn't finished. She then summoned a huge jewel above her before flinging it to the succubus once again. This one, the succubus couldn't block and it sent her crashing to the ground the moment the impact hit her. She wasn't out yet however as she immediately countered by chanting a flame spell. Magic circles appeared beneath the spirit before pillars of flames jetted out from it, hitting the spirit directly. The spirit however wasn't fazed as she simply flew out of it, using her own healing light to heal her burn wounds. And then, she finally decided it was time to stop playing around. She summoned a huge bow formed out of her light. She then aimed it the prone succubus, manifesting the arrow needed with her light once again. And then, she fired. The succubus tried to dodge but it was too late as the speed of the arrow was supersonic. She received the arrow completely, the impact only blunted by the demonic energy that surrounded her body. The arrow exploded once it hit its target, lighting the area with a bright green light.  
  
"...Did I overdo it?"  
  
Totori looked at the crater formed by the explosion of the arrow. Sure enough, the succubus was there, her whole body filled with wounds. She was clearly unconscious and in no condition to fight anymore. Her job finished, the gem spirit vanished into thin air. She was merely a temporary existence. There was a reason why the spirit stone was deemed less like a stone and more like an ammunition.  
  
"Lily!"  
  
The undine, who had been sitting on the sidelines all this time, too scared to join in on the right, suddenly jumped down the crater and pulled the body of her friend onto her lap. She immediately checked whether she was still alive or not, all with a terrified expression on her fight.  
  
Totori watched from a distance. Looking at her relieved expression, it seemed her friend was still alive indeed. She sighed in relief. She had thought she had accidentally killed her. She knew the monsters were pretty durable but her tools were far from weak too.  
  
The undine then carried her friend out of the crater. After resting her body in a flat ground, she then looked at the alchemist with tears in her eyes and said, "You'll pay for this!"  
  
"No, please! I don't want to fight anymore! I'm just here to stop you from polluting the spring, that's all!" Totori quickly replied. "If you leave now and promise not to do this kind of thing anymore, I'll let you go!"  
  
The undine couldn't believe what she was hearing. All she knew throughout her life and the other monsters was how the Order warriors would kill any monsters in sight. But here, this girl was letting her go like it was nothing!  
  
She wanted to take revenge for her friend but she knew she was no match for her. Should she just trust her and take her offer?  
  
 _I knew I shouldn't have taken this request! And now because of me... because of me... Lily is hurt like this..._  
  
The undine had received a request from a kunoichi to corrupt the spring. The kunoichi said how it wouldn't be dangerous and how there would never be any humans who could get to where she would be, thanks to the spring's location. She also said it would make the humans happy as they would be freed from the control of the Order. And when the capital fell, she was promised that she would be able to find a husband among the newly corrupted humans there. She had always wanted one but she was simply too scared and timid to go out to a human dwelling and got one. Hearing this offer as well, Lily also reassured her that she would be there to act as her bodyguard.  
  
"F-fine. W-we'll leave. But we will remember this, human!" she responded, trying to act like an angry water spirit as well as she could.  
  
And with that being said, she left the clearing, her friend in tow with her water carrying her unconscious body.  
  
Totori sighed in relief. That went well.  
  
Her mission was now nearly complete. There was only one more thing she must do.  
  
She tested the water coming from the spring. Yep, the corruption wasn't that bad. She hadn't been here long. It should dissipate on its own eventually.  
  
She then returned to the capital, happy that her job was done. Using the device called Warp Gate, she could return to capital in an instant, thanks to it already having the gate's beacon installed. Little did she knew that a kunoichi had been watching her from the shadows. It was the same kunoichi that had given the task to the undine. She noted everything she had done, how she summoned that spirit from said egg, and how she had teleported back home. As you might have suspected, she worked for the demon lord. Her mission here was less to corrupt the spring, which she knew would be a futile attempt with just one undine and succubus, but to gather as much information as she could about their new adversaries. Ever since they had erected monster detectors all over the capital and its surroundings, they couldn't get any intel whatsoever. So they had to do things like this. She had prepared herself to join in on the fight if the opponent had gone for the kill, but she was more merciful than she had expected.  
  
The kunoichi grinned. Mercy just meant it would be easier to corrupt them.


	4. Chapter 4

Once, a couple hundreds of years ago, Arland was a poor and insignificant country. Located in the southernmost corner of the massive continent it was on, no one would ever willingly immigrate to the place thanks to all the monsters infesting said frontier. The land was underdeveloped; roads were almost non-existent, and every day was a struggle to live. All they had were the many ruins they had in their territory, with Orthogalaxen, a massive sprawling tower that would take months for anyone to explore fully, being the most massive one. Unfortunately, no one was able to utilize any of the advanced technologies lying within. Not to mention, the ruins were crawling with strong monsters, with Orthogalaxen having the strongest monsters inside it. However, one day, a travelling alchemist arrived at the kingdom. And she miraculously managed to bring those so-called "machines" out of the ruins, and taught the people how to utilize them. And all she asked in return was the permission to build an alchemist' atelier in the kingdom.  
  
Almost overnight, Arland transformed into a rich country. It entered an age of industrialization, thanks to the machines they had recovered from the ruins. Factories began to pop like mushrooms, increasing the export of the country by many times. Everyone shared in the wealth, and no one was poor ever since.  
  
A similar thing happened at the Kingdom of Arls a couple years back, with its population rising massively from a mere one thousand people to a million in just six years. But its sudden growth was not because of the machines of the past age. It was thanks to alchemy. Astrid and her disciples had proven that alchemy still had a place in the world, with their skills surpassing even the legendary alchemist from Arland's past. This second boom of technology and prosperity was what enticed many small countries to merge with Arland, forming the Arland Republic. They wished to have their share of Arland's wealth as well. And that included Arls, who now had become a part of the Arland Republic, turning its princess into just an ordinary girl. Well, ordinary wouldn't be the right word, as she was one of Astrid's disciples, or, to be more exact, Totori's disciple. Her fame was now forever immortalized by the golden statue of her image constructed right in the middle of her kingdom's capital.  
  
And now, the same thing was happening here in the kingdom of Myluca. Not exactly in the same fashion however, as the kingdom hadn't had any plans of merging with some other nation from a different world. Not to mention that free travel between the worlds was still not made available to the public. The risk was still too high. They couldn't have a monster sneaking into their dimensional gate and spread corruption in the other side. That was why if they were ever going to have the gate open to the public, they would have to take care of the monster problem first. Then, they could build an actual trans-dimentional gate that wagons and carriages could pass through with ease. The gate they had now was merely in the form of a handheld tool that could only teleport a couple of people at a time. And said tool was being kept by Astrid at all times. So for now, they had to only rely on the tools Arland gave to them without the full support of the Republic's adventurers. For manpower, they had to rely on their own people.  
  
However, it was enough to greatly transform the kingdom.  
  
Myluca's economy greatly relied on its farmlands and nothing else. No oceans, so they couldn't fish. No control over the monster-infested mountains which meant no mining operations. The kingdom was actually bleeding population, with more people leaving over the years than staying since they were looking for better opportunities elsewhere. A lot of young people don't want to spend the rest of their lives just being farmers, tilting the land they didn't even own since nobility owned most of the farmlands. However, all that changed when the Arlandians arrived. They didn't just bring the knowledge of alchemy with them. They also brought wisdom. There were still a lot of untended lands in the kingdom, thanks to the limited manpower, all also belonging to the various noble families. However, the king one day declared that those lands shall be given to anyone who could manage them and turn them into profitable farmlands. Of course, said nobles complained, claiming how unfair it was to them. It ended up in an intense standoff between them and the former princess Meruru, who suggested the idea in the first place. A shouting match ensued, with the hardheaded princess saying how they were all "stupid poopyheads who were too lazy to actually be proper nobles for once". She was furious at their attitude and how they viewed the common masses. Their belief was the antithesis of everything she had been taught by her father, that nobility existed to protect and serve the people. Even with their incoming merger, her father still told her that she still had her duties as a princess to help develop their kingdom.  
  
In the end, she won, and thus begin the massive growth of the kingdom.  
  
The news spread to the neighboring kingdoms, and waves of poor people from there decided to try their luck at developing Myluca's undeveloped lands. There was no rule that forbid other nations' citizens to join in, just like Meruru wanted. She was mimicking the way her own kingdom was grown, by all the immigrants and settlers coming over from places far and wide. Of course, like in her own kingdom, she helped their efforts via alchemy, giving them miracle fertilizers and seeds that could fasten the growth of other seeds planted in its surroundings. She even used her Nimbus Stones to call down rain, a feat that would outright get her worshiped in Zipangu, similar to how the Ryu monsters were worshiped. Thankfully, she didn't ask for any human males to be sacrificed to her.  
  
Unfortunately, there were still some stubborn nobles who wasn't pleased on how those peasants were rising up in the world, not to mention that they came from other countries. Many times they voiced their concerns to the king about how this would lead to the weakening of the kingdom, how what they were doing would open Myluca to foreign aggressors, and other pointless concerns that they made up just because they weren't happy that their influence was weakening. The king, however, had already fallen in love with the Arlandians and their alchemy, and he paid no heed to their nagging. And everything was over for them when it was discovered that they were planning a coup, thanks to the information Esty gave to the king. Indeed, she wasn't only acting as the former king of Arland's bodyguard. She was also his informant. And she was quite good at it, as she had stopped a similar movement in the past back in her homeworld. To make matters worse however, she also discovered that the head of the local Order church was also in the conspiracy. When his involvement was announced, the people were angry. They could understand if the nobles were the corrupt ones. But a holy man like him, doing something dirty like this? It resulted to a major loss of faith in the Order Church, especially since they now knew very well what alchemy could accomplish. The more idealistic and hotheaded youths among them even outright denied the church altogether, and they began flocking towards the Arlandian alchemists. The alchemists had to keep denying that they were some kind of hero or saints or even gods. Instead, they taught them that alchemy was just another study anyone could learn. They even gave them some alchemy books for them to read. Unfortunately, even thought they were just basic alchemy laws and theorems, they could barely understand it (especially since some of them couldn't even read in the first place). And the alchemists were too busy with their tasks to open an alchemy school to teach them properly.  
  
And so the days went on, with the kingdom of Myluca growing more and more famous. Or infamous, as both the Order and the monsters were wary of its sudden growth. Both sides were unsure whether to view it as the enemy or not however. Certainly, the Order's control on the kingdom had diminished rapidly but the alchemists weren't campaigning against them or for the monsters. The monsters had a similar sentiment. The kingdom hadn't been doing crusades against monster territory like Lescatie of old loved to do. But the amazing power the kingdom had been amassing, this "alchemy" thing, they were wary of it. There was nothing like it in their records. Not even the heroes of old were capable of doing what they were doing. And they had heard about how the so-called "alchemists" they had been harboring had come from another world. No demonic magic in their reservoir was capable of such a feat. Not even the gods could do it.  
  
And so both parties decided to keep a close eye on the kingdom. The Order still thought they could use their kingdom against the Demon Lord. They needed all the power they could get ever since Lescatie fell. And the Demon Lord thought that if they could corrupt those so-called "alchemists", they could finally deal the final blow to the Chief God and bring about the utopia they had always dreamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Knowledge had always been a big deal in the Atelier series. One of the opening themes for the games is titled "Charming Knowledge", and the song's lyrics was about how the two leads would search for knowledge together. And when you battle her in the sequel, the theme song is titled "Surpassing Knowledge". The fallen alchemic civilization in the Dusk series is said to be drunk on their own knowledge. And one of the heroines there has her life goal being to seek knowledge to the point of being an eternal traveler, never staying in one city for long, always aiming her sight as the next ruin she could study. Every discovery, every new knowledge she finds bring great joy to her.
> 
> A sage seeks wisdom while a beast seeks base pleasure. Even if the monsters have their Sabbath researchers, their knowledge is only used to give the world more base pleasure.


	5. Chapter 5

The days that went by for Druella was... unpleasant, to say the least.

For starters, Astrid didn't even bother to give her any food or drink. Not that a lilim like her really needed them but hunger and thirst were things that still affected monsters. Of course, that also included giving her any human semen to swallow, which was her primary source of nourishment.

Second, the poison the alchemist kept giving was torturing her. Her whole body felt like it was burning. Like she had explained, it converted the demonic energy that she possessed into spirit energy while disabling her body's capability to convert it back. If she left it alone, it would eventually kill her for sure. So she had to continuously corrupt the poison so that its effect would stop.

Of course, the alchemist already knew that would happen so she kept giving her the poison regularly.

And third, Astrid gleefully took samples from her body, from sweat and tears to outright cutting her hair, wings and tail. And she smiled all the way while doing it, as if she was just dissecting an animal. Of course, it was nothing that her demonic energy couldn't fix, but pain was still pain, and the way the alchemist did it, Druella couldn't help to feel a slight fear at the woman. And that fact absolutely made her angry.

She had messed up. She had underestimated her and her ilk.

If, if she managed to get out of here, she would gather all of her forces and turn this entire kingdom into a demon realm. And that alchemist, Astrid, she would have a lovely,  _special_  treatment for her.

"So, you're that Druella woman, aren't you?"

The lilim looked up. She hadn't noticed that a bunch of people had entered her prison.

"I've read all sorts of things about you, you know. A lot of unpleasant, evil things in fact. Astrid said you didn't deny any of them so you must be her indeed."

The woman who was speaking to her was an adult one, middle-aged if her estimation was correct. She could tell by her tall and firm body that she was a warrior, and a strong one at that. Hmm, pretty nice breasts as well. She could tell that she would make an excellent amazoness.

"Hey, are you checking me out? Really, even when you're being hung up in chains like that, you're still thinking stuff like that? You're really a piece of work, aren't you? Well, just what you would expect from the daughter of a demon lord, I suppose."

The lilim looked at the others behind her. There was Astrid, just looking amused at the whole situation, as usual. And there was the girl she was about to corrupt if not for Astrid's interruption. Girl? Woman? Astrid said she was over thirty but her face still looked young. Her expression was a horrified one, as expected from a naive girl like her.

And then the next two girls were a pair she was unfamiliar with. They both wore somewhat lewd outfits, especially the blue one, who exposed her armpits. Oh, how she would love to hear her moans as she rubbed her tentacles all over them, especially since she looked to be the serious type as she was just glaring coldly towards her direction. The yellow one wore a more covering outfit, though she actually had boobs unlike the blue one; her white corset showed somewhat of a cleavage. And her skirt was so short that her white bloomers peeked underneath it. This girl's expression was one of burning anger, as opposed to the blue one's cold condemnation.

"You know, at first I thought Astrid was going too far keeping you like this. But now, after seeing you with my own eyes, and witnessing the way you're looking at my cute daughter like that, I say it serves you right. Transforming women into sex-crazed monsters is one thing, but doing it to children too? As a mother, I absolutely cannot tolerate that."

Druella looked back at the warrior woman. Her expression now had switched to that of disgust from her original jovial tone.

"And man, just when I thought sacrificing babies for demon food was the worst thing that could happen."

Without warning, the warrior woman drew her scimitar.

"Mom, wait!" the blue one shouted. So she was her daughter.

"Don't worry, Totori! I won't kill this monster just yet! You still need her for your experiments, right, Astrid?"

"Yes, so I would appreciate if you would lay your hands off my dear test subject, Gisela," Astrid replied with a grin.

"And after that?"

"After that? She's all yours."

Gisela did as she was told, withdrawing her blade back to where it belonged.

This was the first time she had ever encountered an enemy this vile. She wondered just how many had fell thanks to her. Was her corruption at the level of the destruction that tower devil caused? Had she corrupted thousands the same way the devil tower massacred thousands? And to think she wasn't even the head honcho. She didn't know what kind of person the Demon Lord was but for a mother to let her daughter become this evil, it was simply unthinkable. Perhaps she simply shared the same evil disposition. Astrid said nowadays she was just lazing around with her husband having intercourse to increase her power. Perhaps she didn't even know all the things this daughter of hers had been doing.

No matter. As a mother, she had responsibility to raise her children properly. And if she wouldn't punish them for acting bad, well, she would have to be the one doing the role.

"So, anyone else wants to say something to her? Rorona? Pupil No. 2? Pupil No. 3?" Astrid said to the crowd.

"Umm, sorry for Master's attitude, Miss Druella. I know she can be too much at times but please hang on there!"

"...Rorona, why are you apologizing to her? Don't you remember all the things she had done, that she even proudly entered in her book?" Astrid replied, clearly getting annoyed by her apprentice's words.

”Well, I just feel bad for her, being chained up like that."

"Oh, don't worry about her, Rorona. She'll be fine. Yesterday, I cut off her tails and look, it already has grown back again."

"Master, that's horrible!"

"Don't give me that look, I need it for my research. And what do you know, her body is really simply amazing. It's not just her physical and magical abilities that are beyond compare, she has every single type of demonic energy in her! No wonder her mother managed to mutate all monsters like that! With her around, I don't have to gather body parts of every single monster out there!"

Hearing this, Druella's heart sank. She didn't just walk to the opponent's trap carelessly. She was now abjectly helping her with her goal by here, chained up like a common prisoner, tortured for her twisted experiments.

But there was one thing that made her happy, that was, knowing that this Rorona girl in front of her felt pity on her. That meant there would be a good chance for her to corrupt her with ease when the time came. A lot of humans let their pity control them, delaying their blades from slaying a weakened monster just because she was shaped like a human. And they monsters took advantage of them, knowingly or not.

Astrid sighed. "This is why I told you not to get out of the city, Rorona. You're too naive and clumsy for a world like this."

"T-that's not true! I've gotten better now that I'm older!" her apprentice retorted, face puffed up in anger.

"Hmm, I don't know about that..."

"Druelle, let me ask you a question."

Suddenly, the quarrel between the two was interrupted by Totori, who had stepped forward on her own volition. She looked straight at the chained succubus and asked her with a determined look on her face. It was the same look she had when she decided that she wouldn't abandon the village of sacrifice to the tower demon.

”Why did you do it? Why did you do all that? Don't you realize how wrong it is?"

The expression Totori gave was harsh enough that everyone present was taken off guard by it. Astrid looked amused by it, Gisela was proud of it, Rorona was somewhat scared by it, and Meruru now discovered a side she never thought her master had.

Totori was angry at all the things Druella had done, but she was  _livid_  at her attempt at corrupting her master Rorona. She had read with graphic details what happened to a woman who became corrupted. And imagining her master joining their ranks... it was enough to turn the normally kind girl into this state of calm anger.

Sensing the righteous anger coming from the girl, Druella responded with a haughty laugh.

"Why you ask? Why, you would know yourself if you actually have some sense in you! To liberate them, of course! You say I'm corrupting them, I say I'm freeing them! The true corrupted ones are those humans and their rules and religion! If you would go to Lescatie now, you would find a happy paradise, far from the hypocritical nation of the past where only the rich and powerful were allowed to gain happiness! I am doing those maidens a favor! And you, you who come from another world, you who know nothing about this world and yet decide on your own misplaced sense of justice to save it! You would only bring ruin and unhappiness to this world if you side with the humans! How many monsters would you kill in your oh-so-heroic quest to kill the Demon Lord? How many broken homes would you left on your carnage? And if you somehow manage to kill Mother, you would turn every monster out there into their old, man-eating self! Wives would be forced to eat their own--"

"It wouldn't be so."

Suddenly, Astrid interrupted her speech.

"I wouldn't tell you the details, but let's just say, we have _... plans..._ to replace your mother Lilith with a new Demon Lord."

Druella's expression quickly turned into shock hearing that. Replacing her mother? Could that even be done?

But as quickly as well, she recovered, and she returned back to her mocking state.

"Ha...hahahahahaha! As if you could ever do that! My mother managed to repel the Chief God 200 years ago! And ever since then, she had only be getting stronger day after day! Her power now surpassed even of the gods! And not only that, she had the legendary Hero on her side! No matter how strong you and your so-called 'alchemy' are, you will never be able to beat them! Enter their realm and they would see you be turned into the monsters you so very hate for sure, just like they already did for countless other heroes that had tried!"

"We will not give up! Alchemy can do anything, even beating evil gods like your mom!"

This time, the one who interrupted was the yellow alchemist, Meruru. She, like the other three alchemists, was a big believer in the power of alchemy. With said power, she managed to turn her small kingdom into a superpower rivaling Arland in just six years. "For the happiness of the people, I would perform alchemy!" she swore to herself. And now, she was now facing her biggest trial yet. To save this corrupted world with her alchemy.

"And we will bring happiness to everyone with our alchemy too! We don't need you or your mother's salvation!" she shouted, her voice filled with burning determination.

"...Once again, I have to say, naive, very naive. Are all the people from your world this naive?"

Druella's belief didn't budge whatsoever. But this visit was enough to reinforce Totori and Meruru's resolve. Rorona also witnessed how Druella was acting and even her airhead self could tell that she was no good.  _She was like Master only a thousand times more perverted!_ she thought to herself. And Astrid didn't need any reinforcement. She already thought of their task to save this world as a personal challenge. She would surely bring down this twisted system with her alchemy. 

Once they left, Druella smirked to herself. They didn't know what was coming to them. For sure, her subordinates would already be planning their assault on this country right now. This nation would fall, and there was nothing they would be able to do to stop it.

"Oh Lucella, my dear little goat. How I missed you so..."


	6. Chapter 6

"So, this is where their village is. huh? Well, time to see if I can resolve this peacefully. But man, all those traps! They're really good at hiding them!"

 

A while ago, around the second month since they had discovered this new world, the alchemists had been asked to help with the problem of the recent raid the kingdom had on one of their remote villages. The kingdom simply hadn't the manpower to spare to go to the place, not to mention, most of the big wigs up there thought the whole operation wouldn't be worth it, as it was just some poor village populated by hunters and lumberjacks. The kingdom didn't really have any heroes under their employ either, and after hearing that the monsters doing the raid was a bunch of Amazoness, who were superior in strength to any of your usual soldiers, they instead decided to ask for help from the Order headquarters so they would lend some of their heroes. They would just send their soldiers to their doom if they sent them without any hero support. However, the Order hadn't really replied their request, as they too thought that sending any of their heroes would be a big waste, as they were quite scared on possible future invasions by the monsters. They didn't want to end up being the next Luscatie.

 

And so this was where the alchemists came in. Meruru readily answered the call, as she was feeling quite bored just staying around the capital.

 

"Leave it to me! I'll make sure those Amazoness learned their lesson!" she proclaimed proudly.

 

And so there she was, in the front of the entrance to the Amazoness village. There were no roads or anything like that so Meruru had to trudge through the forest. Unbeknownst to her, she was already being watched by a pair of Amazoness scouts, who were hiding themselves up on the trees. Meruru was quite the single-minded hothead, and her senses weren't as polished as her master, Totori. One of the scouts quickly returned to the village and informed the rest of them about her. And they quickly decided that they would happily embrace her as one of their own, turning her into another Amazoness. They were especially fond of the cute and tomboy combo the alchemist had, not to mention that she seemed to be a princess of some sort, judging by the small crown on her head. Rebellious princesses were just the kind of girls they would love to welcome as their new sisters.

 

At first, they expected her to fall to the many traps they had set in their forest. However, even though the princess triggered many of them, she always managed to escape from them with barely any scratch. And she had all sorts of strange tools in her possession, something they had never seen before. They now knew that she wasn't just your ordinary adventurer. So they decided. They would ambush her with everything they had once she arrived in their village.

 

"Huh, is nobody here?" Meruru said with her eyebrows raised as she entered the village. She didn't see anyone outside. The village was completely empty, as if it was deserted. "Could it be that they all had run away?" she mumbled to herself.

 

Without her knowing, she was actually being surrounded by the Amazoness from all directions. Even though they possessed considerable strength, they were also masters in the art of war, so they wouldn't just brute force everything as if they were a bunch of ogres. And besides, they were all originally normal human tribal women, only becoming Amazoness thanks to Succubi corrupting them.

 

Their chieftain led the assault, and the very moment Meruru was out in the open, she signaled to all their archers top open fire.

 

Arrows flew from all directions, heading straight towards the princess alchemist. Of course, the arrowheads were all made by Demon Realm Silver, designed not to kill but to merely wound and sap the Spirit Energy from any targets it hit. That meant they wouldn't kill any of their targets, only weaken them so that they could easily be corrupted afterwards.

 

Meruru's instinct flared up before any of the arrows arrived, and she quickly dodged away from her spot. However, some of the arrows managed to land on her body, sending in Demonic Energy to replace the Spirit Energy she possessed inside her body.

 

_An ambush!_

 

She quickly ran towards the nearest cover, but before she could even rest and look at her wounds, the remaining Amazoness already surged towards her position with their greatswords brandished. Thinking quickly, Meruru quickly leaped up to the nearest roof to put some distance between her and her pursuer. However, such a move only made her vulnerable to the second volley of arrows coming from the archers. She had to keep moving, leaping roof to roof as she avoided the volleys of arrows heading towards her direction. As she did, she pulled any stuck arrows from her body before popping some Secret Remedy pills. Normally, the drug would be able to cure any injuries in an instant, as long as the wound was still fresh, but it had been modified to also boost its eater's spirit energy so that it could help with resisting any demonic energy that wandered inside.

 

"Hey, you guys are being unfair!" she shouted to the Amazoness. "I come here in peace, you know!"

 

"We know! That's why we want you to join us and have some fun with us together!" one of the Amazoness answered, her voice sounding terribly excited.

 

"We can tell you're going to be a really wonderful Amazoness! You're both cute and strong after all!" another one answered.

 

"Well, nobody wants to be one of you! I'm Princess--wait,  _Former_  Princess Merurulince Rede Arls! I'm not going to be turned into a sex-crazed monster like you guys! I'm an alchemist through and through!" Meruru shouted back. She honestly found the obsession the monsters had with sex really baffling and odd. From what her master Totori had told her about it, just like she had promised to do once she was old enough, it was a gross and disgusting act (her master merely smiled when she told her about her view on sex afterwards). Apparently, it was a sacred act between two lovers? But here, the monsters just kidnapped men and have sex with them without their consent. And her master told her it was a really, really bad thing to do. So after hearing on what the Amazoness was doing, she immediately declared them to be bad people.

 

"That's it, I've had enough of running! Come to me, my magic sword!"

 

The fanny pack she had on her immediately opened on its own and from it came out a greatsword that was as tall as her. It jumped out on its own and it immediately floated around the alchemist, cutting any arrows that came towards her.

 

"What in the name of Ares is that?" the chieftain said. "No matter. It's only one sword. Everyone, overwhelm her at once before she could use anymore of her crazy tools!"

 

The chieftain and a bunch of other Amazoness leaped towards the roof where Meruru was standing. However, thanks to said roof being made with straws, it immediately collapsed, sending everyone involved down to the ground. However, the chieftain was counting on this. The roof collapsing would certainly catch their prey off-guard while she and the others already knew that it would fall. The house was empty as all the men and children had been evacuated to the her house, so doing this was perfectly fine.

 

"Now! Attack her!" she shouted as she herself charged towards where Meruru was. She would immediately find that her greatsword's blow was blocked by the floating greatsword however. But there were still the others! Surely they could gang up against her and--

 

Without warning, they were immediately blown away by a strong gust of wind coming out from where the alchemist was. It was as if a whirlwind had suddenly appeared right inside the house. And the force was strong enough to level the rest of the entire house, sending the Amazonesses even further away.

 

"Whew, that was close!" Meruru sighed in relief.

 

She was indeed surprised by the Amazoness' crafty plan. Thankfully, it was nothing that her trusty Pinwheel couldn't fix. The item was strong enough to create a massive tornado that would protect the alchemist standing inside it and blow away any attacks by the enemy. Here, she only used merely a fraction of its power, not wanting to accidentally level down the entire village. A similar alchemic science was applied to the windmills back home so they could call upon their own wind needed to make them spin.

 

"W-what just happened? A-a wind spell? But she shouldn't have any time to chant them!" the chieftain groggily said as she was recovering from the blow she had just received.

 

And then, she saw it. The big sword that she had summoned. It had turned even bigger right now. It was now at least ten times taller than the girl, if not more. The alchemist had unleashed the maximum power of the sword, and now she was looking at them with an angry look on her face.

 

"If you guys won't give up, then I'll just have to do this!"

 

The sword flew right itself towards the chieftain. She quickly raised her sword to block the blow but the moment the giant sword's blade impacted her own blade, her blade shattered into pieces.

 

"N-no way..."

 

The giant sword wasn't just any ordinary alchemy sword. It was designed to be a replica to the magic sword a hero from old used to wield. It was just as strong as said sword, with its only downfall being that the sword would eventually shatter on its own, making it more like the bombs an alchemist used than an actual sword.

 

But of course, none of the Amazoness knew that.

 

The chieftain fell down to the ground on her butt, with the giant sword hovering menacingly just inches away from her. She had lost. A complete and utter defeat. And her opponent was now showing her mercy.

 

"You... you're not from the Order, are you?" the chieftain asked the alchemist. "You would've killed me if you are for sure. Tell me, what do you want with us?"

 

"It's simple! I just want you guys to stop raiding villages and kidnapping their menfolk! You guys don't know how troublesome you guys have become for those people! Oh, and also, return their men back! They have family waiting for them back home, you know!"

 

The chieftain couldn't help but laugh at the simpleminded way she gave her demands. How cute. She bet that she had never really killed a monster before either, judging by the way she was hesitant to cutting her down.

 

The chieftain gave a brief glance to her warriors who had been sneaking behind Meruru, approaching closer and closer to her. No matter how strong she was, without her tools, they would be able to take her down. If they could only take her out with one hit from a surprise attack, or they could steal that tiny bag she stored her tools in... She didn't make any commands to them. She trusted that they already knew what they should do.

 

"Fine, we surrender. You have clearly demonstrated that your strength exceeds far beyond ours. So please, put this giant sword of yours down. Then we will show you where we keep your men," the chieftain said.

 

Meruru, after looking some more at the chieftain, judged that she was indeed telling the truth. So she did as she was told. The giant sword vanished at her command.

 

Just the opening the amazoness had wanted.

 

Five amazoness leaped right towards the alchemist, all with their swords drawn. Once again, Meruru's instinct kicked off before her brain. And once again, she was too late to avoid the all the incoming attacks. One failed to land but the other four's swords managed to pierce and cut through various parts of her body, with one of them even cutting her fanny pack off her waist.

 

"Gah!" she shouted in pain as she felt her spirit energy. Worse that she could feel all the demonic energy rushing into her.  _T-this is bad. A-at this rate, I would be..._ She could feel a mysterious warmth beginning to envelope her body. It was the first sign that demonic energy had begun infecting your body. She went for her items, but she realized that her fanny pack was gone. With horror, she noticed that the bag was there on the ground, right near the amazonesses that had surprised her.

 

"That's it! I've had enough of you all!" she shouted, before launching herself towards them. Thanks to the monsters attacking with their demonic silver, her actual body hadn't really suffered any physical injuries. And since she could live without Spirit Energy, the effects of their attacks were far more minimal than they would expect. And that misjudgment was clearly shown by the looks on her attackers, who had thought she was done for.

 

She activated the Speed Belt she had on her body, multiplying her speed many times. She didn't like using it as it put a strain on her body, not to mention that if she went too fast, there was a chance she could burn up into ashes thanks to the friction of the air. But she needed the burst of speed to take out all five of them in quick succession.

 

One amazoness was taken out instantly by a full strength blow of the alchemist's staff to her pretty face. The next one tried to counter her fallen friend but Meruru instead used her staff to hit her legs instead. And to her surprise, the moment her staff landed, her left leg froze, as if the staff was an elemental weapon. The third amazoness received her blow on her stomach, a blow filled with electricity that immediately paralyzed her movement. Hitting those three was enough to give her an opening to grab her item bag and pull out another one of her Pinwheel.

 

"Suck on this!"

 

This time, she unleashed the full strength of said item. Immediately she was surrounded by another whirlwind, blowing away all five Amazoness near her. As the whirlwind grew, Meruru quickly swallowed some more of her Secret Remedy pills, counteracting the Demon Energy swirling inside her before it could turn her into a monster.

 

The chieftain realized that if not stopped, the whirlwind would surely destroy their village. And so she ordered every one of her tribes to attack. Unfortunately for them, nothing they tried could do anything to stop its grow. Arrows simply got absorbed by the swirling wind and their swords couldn't even reach the alchemist inside as the force was too much for them, even with their super strength.

 

"Everyone! Lift the heaviest things you could find and throw them at the tornado!"

 

All of the Amazoness did as they were told, and they began throwing giant rocks and trees at the tornado, uprooting them from the surrounding forest. But to their horror, all the things they threw only ended up being part of the swirling wind, increasing the damaging potential of the fierce wind even further.

 

_I-it's no use! W-we can't stop it!_

 

The chieftain now realized the wide and large gap between their power and the alchemist. She could've destroyed them in an instant, but she wanted to show them mercy. And they took advantage of said mercy, thinking she was an easy prey for it. And now, they would pay the price, as this tornado would wipe up the entirety of the village from the map.

 

"S-stop! Please stop!"

 

The chieftain jumped right into the tornado's path and bowed, putting her forehead to the ground. "W-we surrender! So please, don't destroy our village and kill our husbands and children!" She said this as the tornado was heading straight towards the chieftain's house, the place where they had evacuated their weaker ones for safety.

 

"Hmm? Sorry! I can't hear you over all this loud wind surrounding me!" the alchemist replied.

 

"P-please! W-we're sorry! W-we promise we would stop raiding villages for husbands! A-and we would return all the men that we have taken!"

 

Gone were the warrior pride the Amazoness chieftain had. She was now supplicating herself to the enemy for survival. But it would all be worth it, as she and the other Amazoness all had their dear husbands and daughters that they wanted to protect. And that was more important than any silly pride.

 

And then, the tornado stopped.

 

The alchemist smiled proudly at the bowing figure of the Amazoness. She had won.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Meruru then was escorted to the chieftain's house to meet with the men they had kidnapped from the human village. The moment they entered, they were greeted with the sight of relieved men and children who immediately swarmed their corresponding wives and mothers. Looking at the sight, Meruru couldn't help but feel a little guilty that she had threatened to shatter this little peaceful life they had.

 

"So, where are the kidnapped men?" Meruru asked.

 

"Here they are. All of them. They all have become our husbands," the chieftain explained. Meruru looked at them and saw in their eyes that they didn't really have intention to leave, especially the ones that already carried baby Amazoness with them. Instead of looking at her as their savior, they instead looked at her with hate and suspicion in their eyes.

 

"You guys... you're alright with staying here?" Meruru asked.

 

"Of course we are! Our family is here! And you come in here and try to kill our wives!"

 

"Yeah, yeah, you tell her that, Benny!"

 

"B-but, don't you have families back home? And I know some of you are married already! Your wives are waiting for you back home! I've met with some of them and they're clearly worried for you all!" Meruru shouted, her voice clearly sounding exasperated.

 

"I don't care! Natalia is so much better than that old hag!" one of the men replied, clearly referring to his Amazoness wife who was smiling beside him.

 

"Yeah! My wife now actually loves me and we always have great sex every day and night!" another one spoke up.

 

The chieftain couldn't help but chuckle seeing the alchemist's confused expression. Even though she was more merciful than most of the Order members, she clearly shared their prejudices towards their kind.

 

"Fine! Do whatever you want then! I'm going home!" The alchemist replied with a loud "Hmpph". Turning into the chieftain, she then said, "And don't forget! If you keep doing those bad things, I would come again and you won't like what would happen then!"

 

And so, Meruru's visit to the Amazoness village came to an end. Before she went back to the capital, she first returned to the human village first and told them that the amazoness shouldn't bother them anymore. But when asked on what happened to the kidnapped men, Meruru had to tell them that they refused to go home, which surprised many of the villagers. Many of them though they would have been eaten by the monsters, thanks to the propaganda of the Order. But here, the alchemist told her that they had become the husbands of the Amazoness, which, as expected, turned the semi-widowed wives furious. Some of them reacted with tears, while others demanded Meruru to go back in there and drag their "idiot husbands" back home.

 

"B-but I can't do that if they don't want to!"

 

"I don't care! They're monsters after all! They must have bewitched them or something!"

 

Meruru had to admit, that could really be true. The nature of demonic corruption warped the minds of the humans affected by it. All those men could have turned into incubi already. It's a shame that incubus doesn't really get any visible monster traits like horns or wings like any other human turned into monster.

 

"And besides, they could've turned into monsters already!"

 

"Then avenge them! Kill all those Amazoness who are responsible for turning my dear into one of them!"

 

Meruru was taken aback at just how angry and vengeful some of the crowds were. But no, she couldn't just grant their wish like that. There was a better way after all!

 

"Don't worry everyone! I swear here as Merurulince Rede Arls that I would turn your husbands back! Just be patient and wait as we formulate the cure! So please, don't do any rash things!"

 

With those words, the angry crowds were calmed down somewhat. They had heard the rumors of all the miraculous tools the alchemists had brought with them. And if she said they could, then perhaps they really could. It was fortunate for Meruru that the village wasn't filled with Order fanatics as she could've been branded as a helper of the monsters if she had refused to exterminate them.

 

And so life went on for both sides. The villagers slowly had the taste of the power of alchemy as well as Meruru gave them Living Axes who could cut down trees by themselves. It greatly eased the burden of the villagers as a lot of their males had been taken by the Amazoness Village. And on the other side, unrest was growing among the Amazonesses. The already married Amazonesses had it good as they already got their husbands, but the unmarried ones were slowly getting more and more jealous of their married sisters. Normally, they would rejoice that the noises their sisters made during sex, but these days, it was making them more annoyed than anything else. Not to mention that to be accepted as an adult, you'd have to have a husband first according to their village's law. They would've gone into raids to get their husbands, but ever since the alchemist came, their chieftain had prohibited such an action.

 

"No means no! If you do such a thing, that girl would really destroy our village the next time she comes here!"

 

"But Chief, we can't take this anymore! Our sisters are acting all lovey-dovey with their husbands while we're stuck here without anyone to cuddle with!"

 

"Then why don't you just share?"

 

"Oh, we know their husbands' hearts already belong to them! They would never love us and we don't really love them either! We want fresh men to take into our homes!"

 

The chieftain sighed. She knew perfectly well that insatiable urge for mating that the husbandless Amazonesses possessed. After all, she was once one of them. She had thought that by migrating to this country where the Order's presence was light would mean they could get all the men they wanted. But now, with those so-called alchemists around, they couldn't do that. Maybe they should move again? She didn't know any other good country to move into however.

 

"Chief, I got an idea!"

 

The chieftain looked up. The one who declared that was one of the husbandless Amazonesses. She was still quite young but she managed to be smarter than most of her peers. She secretly believed she would be a good candidate for the next chief is she ever had to retire. It was unfortunate that she wasn't as strong as her peers, as you also needed strength to be accepted as an Amazoness chieftain.

 

"How about if we just sneak into the human villages? Only two or three of us would go at a time and we would wear robes to hide our monster features! Then, we would seduce any men we fancied and persuade him to enter the forest with us! That way, it wouldn't count as a raid! And the alchemist couldn't complain as he went with us all by his own will!"

 

"That's... a really uncharasteristic thing to do for an Amazoness," the chieftain replied.

 

"I know, I know, but we don't have any other choice, do we?" the high-spirited girl replied.

 

"...Fine. I'll allow it. But you will go alone. And you wouldn't enter their village proper. You would only go after their lumberjacks or farmers that are working out of the village, got it?"

 

"Yay, thank you so much, Chief!"

 

And so Operation Get A Husband began. Near the edge of the forest, the other Amazonesses watched nervously as she put on her long brown cloak, hiding her horn, wing, and tail from sight.

 

"If anything happens, get out from there right away, okay?" one of them said to her.

 

"Yeah, yeah, don't be such a worrywart."

 

Her preparation complete, she headed out with a spring on her steps.  _Finally! I'm going to get myself a husband!_ she thought to herself.

 

After walking for a short while, she noticed the presence of her first target. A group of lumberjacks was in the middle of cutting trees at the edge of the forest. Of course, she couldn't just pop out from the forest, as that would definitely make them suspicious, so she had to get out from another side and pretended to be just a normal human traveler. And so she did. Her smile turned into a grin when she noticed that for some reason, all of the other men were leaving, except for one guy. 

_Oh, I can't believe this! Ares must be smiling at me today!_

She approached the man. From a distance, she could already feel her attraction building up for him. He was quite young, around 20 or so in human years. Even so, he possessed a certain rugged appearance that made her heart skip a beat.  _This is it! This is my soulmate for sure!_

"Uh, hello there. I... am a traveler, you see. And I was wondering if I... might rest here for a while? I am quite tired, you see," she said to him, attempting to sound as normal as possible. She had never done anything like this before. An Amazoness was supposed to just kidnap any men they fancied after all, not making small conversations or flirting with them like this. 

 

"A-ah, sure," the man said, slightly feeling awkward. The cloak might have covered her monster features but it didn't cover her face. He had never seen a brown-skinned human before, especially not one as pretty as she was. Truth be told, he had always been awkward around women, a main reason why he was still unmarried even at this age. And now, he couldn't help but feel nervous around this beautiful mystery traveler.

 

And then he felt it. The monster compass he possessed. It was burning inside the pants of his pocket.

 

This woman... is a monster!

 

"Great! Then I'll just--"

 

"S-stop! Y-you're a monster, aren't you?" he shouted, his tone full of fear and fright. He quickly picked up his axe from the ground and readied himself to a combat stance. 

 

"W-wait, no, I'm not--"

 

"No, you must be! Here, look!" He took out the compass and saw how the needle was clearly pointing towards her direction. "There's no way this compass is wrong!"

 

"W-what compass?"

 

He didn't answer. Instead, he took out from his pocket what looked like to be an arrow only with a dull red tip on the end. He aimed it at the sky with his left hand, pressed the button, and made the red tip fly off with a rocket trail behind it, before exploding into a massive display of fireworks. Rescue Signal. It was given to the people who lived at the frontier as a way to give notice to the others if they ever fell into a trouble.

 

"D-don't come any closer! My pals should be running here at this very moment! A-and even though you're a monster, you wouldn't stand a chance against all of us!"

 

The amazoness couldn't believe this. She was so close. So close to her goal of having a husband. But he was right. She couldn't stay here. And if she were to kidnap him like this, she would bring down the wrath of the alchemist for sure.

 

She threw her cloak to the ground, revealing the full glory of her monster form. "Remember this, human! My name is Nina! And I would certainly make you my husband!"

 

After that declaration, the amazoness quickly ran back inside the forest, leaving the human man with a mixed feeling in his chest. On one hand, he was relieved that he had been saved from joining the other kidnapped men. On the other hand, deep inside, he couldn't help but think that she was really an attractive woman. Not to mention that she had said clear and loud that she wanted him to be his husband. No other woman ever said that to him.

 

_If only she wasn't a monster..._

And so ended the last attempt from the Amazonesses to get themselves a husband. After receiving the report, the chieftain now knew that their hope for getting fresh and new human males for their village had been dashed completely. Those odd tools were most likely made by those so-called alchemists as well and with them around, none of them could sneak in.

 

In the end, she had to consider migrating again.

 

That is, until she got a visit from a certain someone. Someone who had a similar grudge against the kingdom and the alchemists who now controlled it.

 

If only Meruru had known what would happen next, she would have never shown them mercy for sure.


	7. Chapter 7

Around three months after the Arlandians discovered this new world, Gisela and Astrid left the capital and traveled into one of the territories controlled by monsters, the so-called Demon Realms. Their goal was both for reconnaissance and for Astrid to get the ingredients she wanted. And one of said ingredients was the horn of a baphomet. So when they heard the news about a town who had recently fell to one, they immediately headed there. At first, they were greeted by a dead town, with not a single soul outside. But they eventually heard the sounds coming from the church of said town, and now, they were standing right in front of its doors. The building was protected by some kind of demonic forcefield. No doubt whoever was inside, they didn't want to be disturbed.  
  
"So, you think she would be here?"  
  
"Oh, definitely. Can't you hear all those loud noises coming from the inside?"  
  
"Hmm, true. Very well then. Let's bust this thing open, shall we?"  
  
With a single slash of her scimitar, the door to the interior of the church was immediately blown open, shattering into pieces simply by her pure power. The barrier was simply not strong enough to withstand her attack. Inside, there was a sight unlike anything they had ever seen before. It was a sight of pure debauchery, as the large room was filled with the moaning sounds of ecstasy of couples having sex right out in the open. And not just any ordinary couple, as all the girls there were really young-looking, all screaming the names of their dear onii-chans as they explored each other's body.  
  
It was the site of a Sabbath Black Mass. And they had barged right into it.  
  
"Oh, this is disgusting. Really vile in fact. I feel I want to puke."  
  
"...Yep, this is too much, even for me. Alright, party's over folks."  
  
Astrid took out from her coat what looked like a bundle of dynamites tied with leather and a clock. It was a Mega Bomb, the improved version of a normal Bomb. Without any hesitation, she immediately threw the explosive right into the middle of the church, all of its fuses lit.  
  
"No!"  
  
Before it could explode, a figure launched itself from the other side of the room right at the explosive. Before it could throw away the bomb back at the alchemist however, it exploded right on her face. The explosion shook the entire construction of the church, but other than that, there was no lasting damage. The figure, a baphomet, had taken the explosion with her own body, protecting the others from the explosion.  
  
"W-what are--"  
  
Before she could even finish her sentence, Gisela launched herself towards the goat demon, her scimitar aimed at cutting the horns sitting on top of her head. The baphomet quickly manifested her oddly shaped sickle and blocked the blow before it could land. To her surprise, she could feel that she was being pushed back.  _W-what? I-I am a baphomet! My strength should be unrivaled! Is this old hag a hero?_  
  
The baphomet immediately summoned her dark tentacles in an attempt to bind the woman's movement. But the moment Gisela noticed them popping out, she quickly jumped back. One of them managed to land on her sword arm however, preventing her from cutting said tentacle with her sword. However, in a move the baphomet could never have imagined, the woman responded by crushing the tentacle with her free hand before pulling her other hand free.  
  
"Whoa, that was close!" she said with a grin. "Sorry lil demon, but only my husband is allowed to touch me that way."  
  
"Get away from Lilia, you bastards!"  
  
Suddenly, a young man stood in front of the baphomet, spreading his arms wide clearly in the intent of protecting her.  
  
"Oh, what's this?" Astrid said, clearly looking amused at the current situation. "Are you her big brother? That's what you call your lovers, if I am correct?"  
  
"Onii-chan, stay back! These two, they're really strong!" the baphomet cried.  
  
"Don't worry! We're only here for your dear little sister's horns, that's all!" Astrid continued. "So, if she would just give that, then we would be on our way."  
  
"Like hell I would give them to you! Witches, attack!" the baphomet ordered.  
  
The other little girls in the room, who had finally snapped out from their pleasure-induced stupor, immediately did as they were told. Some of them rushed towards the two intruders with quick-casting spells while others chanted from a distance for stronger spells.  
  
"Well, looks like we don't have a choice. I'll just use this thing then."  
  
Astrid took out what looked like a globe from her coat. She threw it casually to the floor near her and immediately the globe expanded, forming a giant globe slightly bigger than the size of your average human men. The globe then spun wildly towards the witches on the back. Before any of them could finish their chants, their little bodies, along with their incubus onii-chans bodies, were hit and trampled upon by the giant ball, who moved with an alarmingly fast speed. The globe didn't just hit them once either. It kept going back and forth like a bulldozer, snapping every bones without mercy. The only ones who were spared was the witches close to the two, and they instead had to deal with Gisela who just tanked through their weak fire and lightning spells like they were nothing. Gisela was more merciful however, as she only cut their goat staves into two.   
  
The baphomet had readied herself to pounce on the two but when she saw the Wandering Globe in action, she instead screamed in horror for it to stop as she saw her subordinates being mowed down by the merciless sphere. She leaped towards its path and punched it with all her might. The force created by the collision created a mini-crater around them, with rocks jutting out nearby, piercing the floor of the church. In the end, the baphomet's strength won, and the globe shattered into pieces. But not without causing blood to drip from her punching arm.  
  
Seeing this, the remaining witches and their incubus immediately fled the scene in terror. They had seen what happened to their comrades and they knew they were outclassed. Most monsters were like them, a mere undisciplined bunch who would run the moment the situation became unfavorable to them. Monsters were all about pleasure after all, not painful stuff like fighting.  
  
"Lilia! Are you al--"  
  
Before the incubus could finish his sentence, Gisela had moved towards the stunned baphomet and slashed her horns off her head. She couldn't respond this time around as she was still taken off-guard by the globe. She quickly unleashed her tentacles once again but this time, they couldn't catch the swordswoman.  
  
"Here you go!" Gisela said as she handed over the pair of horns she had grabbed over to Astrid, who immediately stored them inside her coat. "Now that's done with, we'll go take our leave! Bye bye little demon! That was fun!"  
  
"W-wait, I'm not done with you yet!"  
  
The baphomet, her normally cute face now contorted with rage, launched herself towards the two, who had turned their backs on her. Astrid merely responded by a snap of her finger, and suddenly, a giant book came out from the ground below the monster, snapping shut with great force, stunning her once again and trapping her between its pages. It didn't take long for the baphomet to free herself from it, tearing the book into pieces in the process, but when she did, the two were already gone. The baphomet could only stomp her hooves in anger as she had been humiliated like this. Not to mention, they had done such a horrible thing to her cute witches. She wanted to give chase but she had to tend to her wounded.  
  
To her relief, miraculously, none of her witches and their incubus familiars had died from the brutal assault of the globe. Sure, most of them were in critical conditions, with their arms and legs gruesomely going all the wrong ways, but it was nothing that their demonic energy couldn't heal, though it would take some time indeed. But it was still a terrible sight, and the baphomet swore that one day, she would get her revenge on those two. She also reported this incident to the Sabbath main branch of the Demon Lord's realm, describing everything that had transpired as detailed as possible. Their scientists and tinkerers were most interested in the globe, as they had never encountered such a weapon before. A newly developed weapon by the Order perhaps? But then they heard the rumors of otherworldly travelers arriving in one of the less significant human kingdoms, bringing with them something they dubbed "alchemy". They put two and two together and they concluded that they must be said otherworldly travelers. This eventually led to Druella deciding to infiltrate the country, just to see what they were all about, being fully confident that she would be able to escape with ease if anything went south. After all, nobody had ever gave her a real challenge, not even Lescatie, who were full of anti-monster zealots. In the meantime, the research department of the Sabbath was attempting to create their own version of the globe, though their research was quite slow thanks to the fact that they preferred having sex with their onii-chans and making sex-related objects. In the end, they only succeeded in creating a tentacled globe that would rape anything it came across. Its speed and power were nothing like the original globe. But instead of deeming it a failure, they instead just used it in their orgies. Just as you would expect from a sex cult. So as they spent their days in pleasure while pleasuring others, our alchemists were hard at work devising their own weapons, with many of their nights being spent sleepless in synthesizing and theorizing their recipes. Perhaps some of them used to have a similar work ethic, but nothing of it had remained today, washed away by the depravity of the Demon Lord. Such was the nature of a succubus, who believed with all her heart that the ultimate happiness was having heavenly intercourse with your loved ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that baphomet is Lilia Flimlight.


	8. Chapter 8

The country of Polove. From its history to its current state now, this country possessed many similarities to the kingdom of Myluca. Both used to be a poor country and both were prosperous now. And both countries owed their transformations to certain, differing powers. If Myluca were saved by the power of alchemy, then Polove was saved by the blessings of the Demon Realm. And the people who sat on the top of each countries truly believed in their respective powers.  
  
Saphirette Spherica. The Demon Realm's genius scholar. Formerly a human, now she was a Dark Matter, and now she ruled over Polove. Polove had transformed into a prosperous nation thanks to the power of her four Dark Elementals, the power she received by willingly corrupting the Elementals she had made a pact with, as normal Elementals weren't strong enough to do the job. In the process, she was also snatched by a Dark Matter, and now she was fused to it, becoming a Dark Matter herself. Indeed, she was one of those humans who thought there was nothing wrong with corruption, as she then transformed her own country into a Demon Realm by her own power. Even today, she still strived to improve Polove and any other poor lands that existed. Ironically, despite all her efforts, she and her Elementals weren't awarded by any husbands. So they had to get by via self-pleasure every day. However, thanks to this, she ended up being more reliable than the Sabbath researchers who kept doing orgies day by day with their husbands.  
  
And Lucella knew that fact, which was why she was here, visiting the demon scholar.  
  
Unlike the sabbath researchers, she was no subordinate of hers, so she couldn't just order her. She had to ask her nicely as an equal.  
  
Thankfully, the scholar seemed to be quite receptive to the idea.  
  
"...Hmm, I see. So you want me to research those guys," Saphirette replied after the baphomet finished her story. "Truthfully, I actually had an interest with them as well. Their so-called 'alchemy', there was nothing like that in any of the books I've read and memorized. But considering that they actually managed to neutralize a lilim, daughter of Your Majesty herself, they must be quite strong indeed. Not to mention, the massive growth their country Myluca had been having, particularly in its agriculture. Unfortunately, I hadn't had any of my forces to spare to spy on the country, especially since over here we still have insurgents who kept trying to disturb the peace. So, how about you tell me all the information you have on them?"  
  
So Lucella did, inferring everything she and her organization knew about the Arlandians and their alchemy. She also brought her the alchemy book Totori had wrote and a couple of the living tools the alchemists had made, along with some other miscellaneous alchemical objects. Her human spies couldn't get their hands on the more juicy stuff like explosives as those weren't given lightly to anyone and those that were given were highly guarded by the kingdom's soldiers. She ordered her elementalist subordinates to do analysis and tests on said alchemical items while she would read Totori's book by herself.  
  
"...What in the world is this?"  
  
Her prediction was correct. There really was nothing like it in all the magic research books she had read. All these theorems, they were entirely new to her. And all the tales the book had in it, how alchemy could perform many miracles common sense deemed impossible, she could tell that this Totooria Helmold, the author of this book, was truly passionate of the subject. And reading how she wanted to use alchemy for the good of everyone, it reminded her of herself. Even today, she still dedicated her research to continuously improve the livings on the people of her country and beyond. If only they hadn't been enemies, she would love to have a chat with her. She believed they could get along well, if only she hadn't believed the Order's propaganda about them monsters. The Order. She still scorned them for refusing to help her country in its time of need, not giving them aid even though their famine was so bad that only one out of ten children could survive into adulthood. If she could tell her about all the vile deeds and corruption the Order had done, then perhaps...  
  
The scholar shook her head. Now was not the time to think of such things. She had to study the content of this book properly.  
  
Just as the Arland alchemists believed that alchemy could bring everyone happiness, so did Saphirette believe that turning every human kingdom in demonic realms would bring them happiness. It worked for her country, so why wouldn't it work for the others? Embracing demonization was the best way to increase the prosperity of everyone, not shunning it out of a misguided faith to the Chief God. She knew how the Chief God never had the best interest of mankind from the start. The true path to prosperity would be to overthrow her rule, which was exactly what the Demon Lord wished to do. Thus, she had no qualms on following under her rule.  
  
Afterwards, she immediately ordered her assistants to bring her the alchemical tools the book said she would need to perform alchemy to her research lab. A cauldron and its stirring staff, beakers, erlenmeyer and florence flasks, thermometers, and other chemistry tools of similar nature. Indeed, this "alchemy" thing uses similar tools with normal chemistry except for the giant cauldron. From what she had learned, the cauldron would be the end place where all the alchemical solutions that one had made would be entered. And, with a specific stirring method accompanied by specific heat adjustments, the cauldron would produce the desired item.   
  
She decided to try the easiest recipe available on the book. The book didn't really have a lot of recipes in it as it was just an introductory book to alchemy. Even so, the theorems available inside were quite hard for her to grasp. For this to be a mere introductory book, just how far this alchemy thing could go, she wondered.  
  
The recipe was for Supplement, the most basic item an alchemist could synthesize. It was the building block for alchemy as it stabilized the bonds between two or more ingredients, allowing them to mix properly. The book said you could use nearly any non-synthetic natural material, so she just used the already available ingredients in her lab.  
  
At first, she failed multiple times, each time making an explosion coming from the cauldron that left her lab in a mess of broken glass and soot. But eventually, she managed to do it. She created her very first Supplement.  
  
"So this is alchemy..." she mumbled to herself as she looked upon the yellow liquid inside the bottle she was holding. "This isn't anything special but I guess that's to be expected since this is the basics of the basics."  
  
She then tried to synthesize a Healing Salve next. However, no matter how many times she tried, she would fail over and over again. At first, she attributed this to her mistake in the synthesis process but eventually, she gave up and theorized that thanks to the fact that all her ingredients were harvested from this kingdom's demon land farms and forests, its components were too different from the ingredients described by the book. She assumed that they did their synthesis using normal ingredients, which was why the same recipe wouldn't work.  
  
She sighed. At this rate, she couldn't gain enough useful information on alchemy. This book was just an introduction and her synthesis was just following the recipe laid within. She didn't understand the theorems and laws involved deeply enough that she could use it to create new items suited for her purposes. She had asked that baphomet if she had more alchemy books with her but she said that it was the only one ever written and published for the public.  
  
So then her attention turned to the various alchemical objects the baphomet had given to her for research.  
  
First were the living tools. As their name described, they were objects that could move on their own. They had managed to get a Living Axe and a Living Hoe. The way they worked was that the owner had to describe to them (by moving them with their hands) how they would do their jobs, such as cutting and tilting the land. Then, the tool would be able to do it automatically on its own. It was really something impressive as they couldn't make anything like that without turning the tools into a tsukumogami. When the tools were broken apart to be examined, they didn't really contain any special materials. Just your run of the mill axe and hoe. Saphirette believed they would need to analyze them from an alchemist's perspective to be able to truly discover their properties. But alas, the book didn't teach her anything about that. If they could manage to create something like this on their own, it could make their already prosperous country even more prosperous, as monster husbands wouldn't need to work at all and just let the tool do their jobs, focusing instead on their lovemaking. The energy released would grow their crops even further.  
  
Then there were the Alchemy Coal and the Magic Paint. As the baphomet described it, the Alchemy Coal would burn better than normal coal and the Magic Paint would never deteriorate or harden inside its tube. It was nothing impressive, to be frank.  
  
And last but not least, there were the Tonic and the Nimbus Stone. The Tonic was simply an impressive, nigh miraculous fertilizer. One drop and it could revive a dead plant. Bury it underground in its capsule form and it would turn the surrounding earth fertile. But the Nimbus Stone, the Nimbus Stone could create rain clouds, summoning rain to wherever the location it was split.  
  
When she learned of this, a flash of thought appeared in Saphirette's mind. If they had appeared sooner to this world, if she had learned how to create all of these things from them, perhaps... perhaps she wouldn't have needed to turn to the monsters.  
  
 _N-no. This is still inferior to what the Demonic Energy could do to the world. Crops could grow even without being tended and erupting volcanoes would divert its lava from destroying settlements. And all those tentacle forests giving pleasure to anyone who enters them. Not even alchemy could change the world in such a significant manner._  
  
 _And it's not like I intend to choose. I will learn this "alchemy" thing and I will use it to make my people prosper even more, even if I have to wring out the knowledge from those alchemists myself._  
  
And so this was how the greatest scholar of the demon realm was persuaded to join Lucella's campaign to rescue Druella. Not because she cared much of the captured lilim. Alchemy had charmed her and she now wished to learn everything there was to learn about the art. And the only way she could do that was for those alchemists to teach her. If she could corrupt them and turn them into monsters, there would no longer be any reason for them to fight for the Order. Then they would teach her everything and her kingdom and other demon realms would prosper even more. She even entertained the idea that they could help cure the problem of monsters not being able to birth male children. Their alchemy was something that had never existed in this world before after all. New possibilities and paths could arise from there.  
  
Without the Arlandian alchemists realizing, their alchemy had given new hope to one of their enemies.


	9. Chapter 9

Lescatie. It used to be the second strongest Order kingdom military wise, producing many heroes blessed by the Chief God herself. But now, it had become a demonic mirror of its old self, all thanks to the handiworks of Druella and her minions. However, it didn't mean that civilization had stopped. Instead, it continued, under the new and twisted regime of monsters. Many times the Order had tried to retake it, but none of their expeditions had ever succeeded so far. They didn't even know that their hope of rescuing the royal family was all of naught, as every single of them had been turned into monsters. However, the one that sat on the throne was not one of them anymore. Instead, the throne now belonged to a certain lowly Order soldier, now had been transformed into an incubus thanks to all the sex he had with his monster wives. His name was Elt and he was now the official ruler of Lescatie. However, Lescatie's true ruler had always been the lilim Druella. Elt, who knew nothing about governance, merely spent his days having pleasure-filled romps with his harem in the throne room. After all, he had promised to make every single one of them happy. And what better way to achieve happiness other than by drowning them in the pleasures of the flesh?  
  
Unfortunately, such paradise was not meant to last, as their true leader had disappeared, swallowed by the presence of the mysterious newcomers from another world. No one of them could have expected something like that to happen. Myluca was nowhere near Lescatie in its military strength. They even already had plans to turn it into another demon realm, if not for the problem that its location was protected by other, bigger, more anti-monster human states. As a result, Elt was now stuck running the kingdom for real, something he wasn't too happy about. So, the moment Lucella announced to him and his wives that they were ready to make their move to rescue Druella, he immediately jumped at the opportunity.  
  
"Great! Then, when will we go? I'm ready anytime!" he said with full enthusiasm in his voice. The young man had many reasons to be thankful to Druella, from reuniting him with his childhood friend Wilmarina Noscrim, to improving the kingdom so much from the old days where only those at the top were allowed a chance at happiness. Now, everyone could be happy under the equal and gentle rule of the lilim. When the news first came to him that Druella had not returned from Myluca, he immediately spoke his desire to go there and rescue her. However, Lucella shot that idea down, telling him that charging in into a place that could neutralize a lilim would be suicide. They had to form a plan first.  
  
"...Apologies, but I don't think it's wise for you to go there. The enemy is strong and you--"  
  
"Are you saying Elt-oniichan is weak?"  
  
The one who spoke up was the pink-haired little girl who stood beside Elt. Her name was Mimiru and she was one of Elt's wives. From her tone and facial expression, she was clearly offended by what the baphomet had said.  
  
"Elt-oniichan is not weak! He would kick the asses of those Arlandians just fine! Right, Elt-oniichan?" she said as she closed in on him, caressing his body with hers. Elt responded with a smile and a gentle headpat, causing the little girl to giggle.  
  
The witch was used to be the miracle genius mage that the people of Lescatie looked up to. She wasn't just strong in combat as a mage, being able to almost go tow to tow with Lucella, who was the strongest Baphomet under Druella's command, but she was also proficient in magical theories and the like. However, ever since she had been transformed into a witch by Lucella, she had abandoned all those knowledge. She now cast magic out of pure instinct, no longer caring about anything else other than her dear onii-chan. She wished to be treated like a normal child by Elt, and not as a child genius. She wished to be protected and pampered by him, which was why she took offense on the notion that her big brother was weak. He was strong! How else was he going to protect her if he weren't?  
  
"Elt, I have to agree. Leave this to me and the others. None of us would want to see you to get hurt. Especially me..."  
  
The one that spoke out this time was the fallen hero, Wilmarina. Ever since she was transformed into a succubus by Druella, she had been extremely fixated on Elt. She would only fight for him or Druella who had brought them back together. She would cut down any enemy that threatened them without any hesitation.  
  
Of course, like any other devoted monster wives, she detested being separated from Elt by even just a second. But she would hate it even more if he ever got hurt. Thus, she supported Lucella's argument, swearing to herself that she would finish the invasion of Myluca as quickly as she could so she could return to Elt's side as quickly as possible.  
  
"I appreciate the thought, Wil, but I simply couldn't just stay here while you all risk your lives in combat. You are all my precious wives and I would hate to see any of you get hurt. Even if I am not as strong as you all, I too would want to join the fight. I believe with all our strength combined, not even those Arlandians and their alchemy would stand a chance," he said with his trademark warm smile.  
  
Ah, that smile. Wilmerina felt like she was falling in love with him all over again.  
  
"And it's not just us. The Fallen God is standing behind our cause. I've heard her voice. She spoke to me of delivering the Arlandians to the truth, freeing themselves from the stifling rules of society and common sense. Not just the ones on Myluca. She also wished to spread her gospel to their own world as well."  
  
The one who spoke next was Sasha, the Dark Priest, formerly the not-so-devout follower of the Chief God, now a devout follower of the Fallen God. Even though her loyalty was at the Fallen God, a different entity than the Demon Lord, her goals were the same, that was, to drown this world with hedonism and pleasure. Thus Druella had no problem at all with her tagging along the group.  
  
"That's right! Kick their butts, oniichan!"  
  
"Yeah, show them who's boss!"  
  
The next two who spoke was Lisia and Emiyu, the two orphans that Sasha had been taking care over, along with many others. These two were special however as they too harboured feelings for Elt. And since corruption never cared about taboo, they was turned by Sasha into becoming succubuses, so that they could better pleasure Elt with their childish body. Contrary to popular depictions, a succubus didn't have to be a mature, busty woman. Succubus in form of little girls existed and they would gladly charm older men to fall for them even if said men didn't have such inclinations before.  
  
"No matter how strong they are, we shall triumph over them. We female monsters are much stronger than human ones. Human women are weak in body and heart. Our endless love for our husband grants us immeasurable strength, something human women could never possess. Human women are weak and unfaithful, easy to betray their husbands for the flimsiest of reasons. The weakness of their kind is something to be pitied, a sin that should not exist in this world. It is why we must become victorious over them."  
  
The one who spoke with a soldier-like tone was the echidna Merse. Before she was turned into a monster, she had been a woman who hated anything womanly, including her own womanhood, all thanks to her mother who had acted cruelly to her and her father. But Druella had shown her the light, that it was not womanhood to blame. It was the weakness of humanity. Thus, she now shared her desire to turn all humans into monsters so that they would be freed from said weakness.  
  
"The weakness of humanity, huh? You're right. I too once hated my parents for birthing me, a half-elf into this world, thinking of myself as an abomination just because their society said so. It isn't just humans that are weak. Any other races who aren't monsters share the same weakness, as they don't possess the blessing Your Majesty has given to us monsterkind. A world where all races could mingle and coexist couldn't exist without her power. Every race should become one, and everyone should only be looked upon as male or female."  
  
The one following right afterwards was Primera, the half-elf werewolf. Her dream was to unite all the existing races as monsters so that everyone could be happy, so there wouldn't be anyone else who experienced the same tragedy as she did. To this day, she swore to shoot every human and elf she found with her bow so that they would turn into beautiful, unprejudiced monsters.  
  
"Ufufu, that is correct. I would be happy to help the efforts of you two. My tentacles are itching to make new friends, you see~"  
  
The giggling ladylike woman was Fransisca Mistel Lescatie, the Fourth Princess of the Lescatie Kingdom. She had been reborn from her sickly old self to a healthy and confident Roper monster thanks to Druella. And with her own power, she was the one who turned all the maids and noble ladies in the castle into Ropers like herself, thanks to the amazing reach of her tentacles who could cover the entire building. She wanted to make friends you see, friends with the people who had abandoned her as she laid down on her bed, unable to move thanks to her incurable illness. All those women who had looked down at her, they all now had become her friends in debauchery. She would make them feel so good with her Roper tentacles and eggs, the latter being stored in their beautiful wombs. And now, she would be able to make more friends, friends from another country nonetheless! Oh how excited she was for this excursion!  
  
"No, we cannot underestimate them. For them to be able to outwit Lady Druella, they must be a crafty bunch indeed, more than your usual Order Heroes for sure."  
  
The last woman to speak was the Inari named Koyoi. Out of all the incubus king's wives, she was the latest to join, as she only arrived after Lescatie had fallen with the intention of repelling the monsters infesting the kingdom. Of course, that invasion failed completely. Koyoi even believed they had fallen right to Druella's hands, thought Druella merely gave her one of her usual mysterious smiles when she asked her about it. Her companion, Doon, was thwarted by none other than his own wife, resurrected from the grave by the blessing of the Demon Lord. And then, she was thwarted by none other than her own missing sister, Tasogare, who had escaped from home with her retainer Bunkichi. The sight of them happily enjoying the body of one another, it shook her beliefs greatly, to the point that Druella could convince her to let go and turn herself into a monster willingly. Now that she was a full-blown monster, such doubts no longer existed. She now knew that the path of true happiness was by the path of the monsters. She still remember how she rescued her elder sister Shinonome and her fiancee from the prison of her clan. Now, they were here safely, enjoying their life together without a care for the world, monsterized so they could enjoy each other even more.  
  
"Lucella, have you discovered any weakness on the Arlandians? Anything we could use against them? A battle is not just won through strength. It is also won through the mind. And everybody here is a witness of that. Lady Druella had shown us the truth, answered our doubts when she turned us into monsters. No human would be able to live fully under their stifling society," she continued.  
  
"Unfortunately, I couldn't dig up anything about them. And from what my spies had told me, Myluca was far relaxed than your usual Order kingdom. It was still filled with people who fear our kind but they looked up to the Arlandians, especially their three alchemists, even more than they looked up to their own king and the church," the baphomet answered.  
  
"Well that's... new," the inari returned. "How about their own kingdom? Arland... Republic, was it?" She still wasn't sure what a Republic was, other than it was apparently a form of kingdom not ruled by a king.  
  
"Nothing, other than they employ machines and alchemy in their daily lives."  
  
"Machines? You mean, like the ones gremlins love to play with from ruins?"  
  
"Something like that. Our spies couldn't find any automatons among them however."  
  
The inari paused to think. They really had barely any info on the opponents they were going to face. They could only procure a couple of the magical tools they possessed and they couldn't really understand how they were made either. Even the great scholar Saphirette was stumped.  
  
Suddenly, she felt a familiar hand grabbing her right arm. It was Elt's arm, and the man was smiling warmly at her. Immediately her heart skipped a beat.  
  
"It's alright, Koyoi. You don't have to worry so much," said the incubus. "We will win. Believe me in this. Worrying isn't suited for your pretty face, you know."  
  
"Yeah, Elt-oniichan is right! If those Arlandians try anything sneaky, me and Elt-oniichan would kick their butt for sure! I will fry them all with my thunder and Elt-oniichan would slash them all with his sword!" Mimiru joined in.  
  
Hearing those two, Koyoi's frown transformed into a smile. They were right. She shouldn't worry so much. With all of them working together, there was no enemy that they couldn't beat.  
  
Seeing all the enthusiasm coming from Elt and his wives, Lucella smiled. With all of them together, there was no way they were going to fail. Not to mention how Saphirette would be joining them as well, and she was the best Elementalist she had ever known. And with the freshly found Dark Matter ready, they could gain even more of an advantage by covering Myluca with demonic energy instantly, as that meant their strength would be boosted even more. Even if the outburst of demonic energy failed to convert their females into monsters, since apparently they had given every citizen of theirs some sort of drug that could prevent monsterization, that advantage would surely be enough to beat the Arlandians thoroughly.  
  
"Then it's decided," the baphomet said to them. "We will go tomorrow morning. Oh, and make sure to fully satisfy yourselves as we couldn't afford loud orgies in the road, as we would be infiltrating Order territory after all," she added with a wink.  
  
And so for the remaining day, there was no rest for poor Elt. Such was the life of an incubus with so many wives. Even with his inhuman stamina, he still found it tiring to pleasure every single one of his wives like that, especially since they loved to ask for seconds. He only earned reprieve the next morning, where everyone had to prepare for their departure. Some of them visited their relatives who they left behind, like Sasha and her monster girls, Merce and her recently birthed baby, and Koyoi with her elder and younger sister. Fransisca still had her parents who these days only spent their hours holed up in their bedroom having sex with each other, but she didn't really care for them. She hadn't even bothered visiting them ever since she had turned into a monster.  
  
"...I really think I should go with you."  
  
"No, I told you, sis! There's no need for you to come with me! I'll be fine! I have Elt and the others after all!"  
  
"But the opponents are those Arlandians, right? And they're supposed to be really strong, right?"  
  
Koyoi quickly grabbed the hands of her elder sister. She then stared at her eyes and said, "It's fine. Everything is going to be fine. Onee-sama should just enjoy your time with your husband, alright?"  
  
"Yeah, she's right! Just take it easy, onee-chan!"  
  
Koyoi was visiting her two sisters, Tasogare and Shinonome. Unlike her, who was Elt's husband, each of them had their own husbands, thus they weren't part of Elt's harem. So each of them got their own rooms unlike Koyoi who mostly spent her time with Elt in the throne room. Koyoi was visiting as she was going to depart to Myluca this very morning. Shinonome wished to follow her but Koyoi didn't want her or Tasogare to get involved, especially Shinonome who only recently obtained her freedom. A woman's biggest happiness was to be beside their husbands after all so tearing them apart would be too cruel for her.   
  
Shinonome finally relented and as she gave Koyoi a hug, she whispered to her, "Be safe, alright? Tasogare and I would be waiting for your return."  
  
With that settled, Koyoi was finally able to depart with a light heart. She didn't like fighting, not since she had been true to herself, but she still would fight for the people precious to her. If everyone could become a monster, then this world would be peaceful for sure, she believed in her heart.  
  
As the dark sun rose illuminating the demon realm, so began the campaign against Myluca.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may want to re-read the last chapter. Added quite a lot since I forgot to write about Koyoi like a dumbass.

"Another day where nothing happens... when I signed up for this, I didn't expect it to be this boring..."  
  
John sighed. As usual, he was stationed to be up in the watch tower. His job was supposed to be the eye of the outpost, but it's not like there were anything going on. The village was still fine as usual and nothing was coming out from the forest. Supposedly there was an Amazoness village in there somewhere but the higher ups said they already made a treaty with them. He didn't know if you were even allowed to do that as he was always taught that the monsters were evil and not to be reasoned with.  
  
John sighed again. Ever since those Arlandians came, everything was changing so fast, it was making his head spin. He would have never imagined that there was a different world entirely than the one he was in now. And their alchemy, it was something else. All those living tools made life so much easier for the common folk like him. Now his old man could work on his farm much easier.  
  
He took a look on the rifle he was holding. This too was given by the Arlandians. Unlike the big Order countries, they didn't have any capability to produce their own guns. And importing them would be too much for the meager budget this kingdom had. Guns were expensive, far more costly than your normal swords and spears. And yet, the Arlandians just gave them out pretty much for free. He heard in their world, they had these things called factories who could make them en-masse, something they certainly didn't possess.  
  
Thank the Chief God for that. A rifle would be better for a common soldier like him. A hero might prefer swords but for him, who never really had confidence in his swordplay, this weapon was better. He just had to aim and bam, that's a dead monster.  
  
He lifted the rifle and aimed it at the forest down below. He wasn't sure about the range of this thing but he felt as if he could just fire at anything approaching from down below freely, another main advantage of a rifle. Sure, he could also use a bow but using that weapon was definitely harder than using a rifle.  
  
 _Huh, what is that?_  
  
He stopped in his thoughts when he saw what seemed to be movement coming from the forest. The lumberjacks weren't working in that part of the forest so what could have caused it? A wild beast perhaps? That could be bad. A wild boar could kill a man if the man was caught off-guard.  
  
He looked around again. There, more movement. Not just one. There were two, three, four, five, six, seven--  
  
Warmth in his pocket. He took out the monster compass in it and saw that it was pointing towards the direction where he saw the movements.  
  
Chill crept on his back, his heart sinking with the realization.  
  
They were under attack.  
  
"E-everyone! M-monsters! Monsters are coming out from the forest!" he shouted to his comrades down below as loud as he could. The soldiers down below, who also had been lazing around like he did, experienced the same rude awakening. They froze for a few seconds before going to their respective stations as they had been taught to. The alarm was triggered, and the sound echoed not just through the outpost, but also to the entire village.   
  
"Send a messenger through the Gate! Tell them we're under attack!" their commander ordered. The Gate he referred to was the Warp Gate. Similar to the portals the monsters had connecting their various Demon Realms, the Gates also connected this area to the capital. It was the stationary version of the portable Warp Gate the alchemists possessed, allowing massive amounts of large goods and people to be transported with ease. It also allowed fast communication and fast reinforcement in case of war.  
  
Just as John had suspected, there were indeed monsters coming out from the forest. It was an entire tribe of Amazoness, all running towards the outpost, primal, lusty joy in their eyes.  
  
"F-fire them! Fire the cannons!"  
  
The outpost was not much of a defensive fortress, but it was equipped with cannons brought over by the Arlandians. They began firing at the incoming Amazoness but the monsters with their agility dodged all their shots with ease. However, they managed to slow them down just enough so that the lumberjacks managed to enter the outpost safely.  
  
"Damnit, use the big one! And fire your rifles, goddamnit!" the commander shouted.  
  
The big one he referred to was the sole alchemy cannon they possessed. Most of the alchemy cannons made by the alchemists were given to the capital and the fortress guarding the only path into their small kingdom. Outposts like these only get one or two at the very most. Not to mention, the operators for the alchemy cannons must have a special training with the alchemists first before they were allowed to use them or else they were at risk of blowing the whole thing up. Most alchemical weapons were really volatile, requiring special care in their usage.  
  
The operator did as he was told. He aimed the cannon at the closest approaching Amazoness. With a gulp, he fired the shot.  
  
A massive beam of purple light came out from the cannon, crashing straight to the Amazoness. The strength and speed of the beam far surpassed normal cannon balls, surprising the Amazoness, making her be unable to dodge. She tried blocking it with her greatsword but it was no use. Her life flashed in her eyes before she was disintegrated into nothingness by the beam, the grass beneath her all burning into ashes, the plot of land turning into a wasteland.  
  
That attack was enough to give pause to the other Amazoness, fear going into their hearts, their chieftain included. One of their sisters had been eradicated just like that by a mysterious weapon they knew nothing about. Doubt began to crept in as they began to regret the decision of joining this attack against the kingdom.  
  
"Don't falter! Don't you all want this? We would finally be free to hunt for husbands again!"  
  
The one who shouted was their chieftain. She quickly recovered the morale of the Amazoness just with her speech. Such was the respect she commanded among her sisters.  
  
 _Yes, this is what we want. This kingdom, it would surely fall in the hands of Lady Lucella and her Fallen Heroes. As proud Amazoness, we would never run away from a fight, just to save our hide. We would finally be able to free this land from the rule of those accursed alchemists. Our young sisters and future daughters would be able to get the husbands they deserve._  
  
But then, the chieftain suddenly remembered that day where Meruru came to them. She remembered how she said she would punish them if they were to step out of line again.  
  
 _There is no going back now. It's either us or them who would win in the end. If we fail here, then we would be eradicated by her._  
  
The remaining Amazoness continued their charge, inching closer and closer to the walls of the outpost. One of them might have fallen but they were many. And once they closed the distance, that cannon wouldn't be able to do anything.  
  
"Change the firing mode to spread!"  
  
The operator did as he was told once again. This time, the cannon fired off a volley of cannon balls in a single shot. Accompanied the other cannons and the rifle shots raining down of them, even with their agility they couldn't dodge everything. Some of the shots landed, stopping the hit Amazoness in their tracks. However, there were still a significant amount of Amazoness still standing and the ones with the arrows started firing at the soldiers standing on the walls. The melee fighters on the other hand were knocking down to the outpost's gate, the walls being too tall for them to climb over. Inside, the soldiers and the lumberjacks were already waiting in front of the gate, ready to attack when they inevitably busted it down.  
  
"Come on boys, we gotta last until reinforcements came!" one of the more burlier lumberjack declared, his Living Axe readied in his hand. He tried to sound tough but it was obvious that there was a tinge of fear in his voice.  
  
"M-monsters, from the back!"  
  
"W-what? What are you-- gah!"  
  
Without warning, a mass of purplish black tentacles appeared over the walls from the back of the fortress. The tentacles immediately spread with high speed, grabbing every soldier they could find, immobilizing them immediately. The back gate then was destroyed with a single punch, revealing a group of monsters standing behind it, with one of them being the Roper who was responsible for the tentacles.  
  
"Everyone, go to the Warp Gate! Quickly!" their incubus leader said.  
  
"T-the Warp Gate? D-damn you, so that's your plan all along, isn't it? Someone! Go in there and shut down--aarrgh!" The bound commander lost his voice as the tentacle wrapped around his throat tightly. The soldiers and the lumberjacks, knowing what was going on, immediately rushed towards the still connected Warp Gate. However, the tentacles blocked their path, preventing them from even approaching the gate.  
  
"Now, now, we can't allow you guys to do that. We need this Gate to launch the assault on your city after all," the Roper said with a grin.  
  
And so they could only watch in horror as one by the one the monsters entered the Gate. Some brave soldiers and lumberjacks marched forwards anyway but they would soon find that they were never the match of the tentacles. Not even the Living Axes stood a chance as they were made to chop trees, not as weapons. Their only hope to stop them was to use the alchemy cannon against them but the operator had been bound by the tentacles as well.  
  
John watched all the carnage going on from his watchtower, too scared to even make his presence known. The tentacles hadn't reached him yet so technically he should be able to do something. However, his feet simply refused to move. He was a just a new recruit. He couldn't be expected to handle this situation!  
  
"Hello, handsome."  
  
John gasped and quickly turned around. He was too late however as the amazoness behind him immediately pinned him down to the ground with a lecherous look on her face.  
  
"A timid human man. Just my favorite. I shall pick you to be husband."  
  
John attempted to scream for help but the Amazoness put her hand over his mouth, covering it completely.  
  
"Shh, don't worry. Don't look so afraid. I'll take good care of you~"  
  
The Amazoness had broken in as well and immediately the unmarried ones jumped at the nearest males they could find. Just like against the tentacles, the soldiers and the lumberjacks couldn't do much against them.  
  
"Lyra, I'll leave this place to you," the baphomet on the other group said to the leader of the Amazoness. "Have fun," she added with a smirk before going into the Gate.  
  
And so began the invasion of Myluca. In the future, this would be marked as the turning point of the conflict between humans and monsters, for the result of this invasion shall be the wake-up call for both factions. Both the Order and the forces of the Demon Lord would be changed forever.


	11. Chapter 11

The moment the monsters stepped out of the Warp Gate, they were immediately confronted by a squadron of soldiers. From the looks on their faces, they were clearly surprised on their presence there. They had expected for the outpost on the other side to hold much longer, but now, the enemy was right in their doorstep, using their very own technology at that.  
  
"D-damnit, we were too late! The outpost has already fallen! And this presence, they're no ordinary monsters! Everyone, be--arrrrgh!"  
  
Without bothering to wait for the captain to finish his speech, Lucella cast her thunder spell, electrocuting and paralyzing every single soldier in front of her. The ones on the back quickly reacted by firing their rifles but all their bullets merely ended up being repelled by the barrier that the baphomet had erected.  
  
"Give the signal, quick!"  
  
One of the soldiers fired off a flare gun, signalling to the skies that the enemy had overrun them and that they needed reinforcements ASAP. They were really thankful for the fact that the surrounding civilians had been evacuated, just in case anything like this actually happened. More importantly however, they had to at the very least keep them busy until the cavalry came.  
  
"Heh, hehehehehe, that's it for you, you filthy demons! Soon, the Arlandians would come and they would wipe you out for sure!" one of the soldiers said with an almost manic look on his face. Like many others in the kingdom, he too had put his faith in them. He wasn't originally a citizen of Myluca. Instead, he came from one of the surrounding countries. And he came here alone, with barely anything on his back. His entire family and village had fell victim to a monster infestation. He came here searching for new hope, after the Order had failed him. He had asked, nay, begged for them to avenge him, but after one failed excursion to his remote village, they had stopped trying. He had asked them to send one of their Heroes with them but they refused, saying how they were needed elsewhere.  
  
But now, it no longer mattered, as he now had his new heroes at last. He just had to hold them right here until they came and then--  
  
"Hey, Lucy~ Can I go now? Please, please, pretty please~"  
  
"Yes, as promised, you may go now. This should be close enough to the Capital."  
  
"Yaay! Finally, I'll get to be all lovey dovey with human men!"  
  
One of the monsters came forward, an extremely lusty look on her face. She was even drooling as she looked at the soldiers in front of them.  
  
It was a Dark Matter. There were two Dark Matters among the invading monsters. This one looked much younger than the one on the back who just sat on her black sphere calmly, watching everything with a light smirk on her face.  
  
This was their trump card. The baphomet had spent a lot of her organization's resources to search for her. Well, not her specifically, but for her type of monster. Dark Matter was the only monster with the capability to turn an area into a Demon Realm in an instant if she ever had sex with a human male. Saphirette had refused the role, saying how she would only lose her black sphere to a beloved husband, not some random human men she found on the way. But the other Dark Matter was different. She was a pure Dark Matter, not like Saphirette who had fused with a human women. A pure Dark Matter would just have her head always be filled with thoughts of having sex with men. On their way here, Lucella had to reign in the Dark Matter multiple times from just assaulting any men he found, as once she had her first sex, she would lose her black orb. And the generation of the massive surge of Demonic Energy could only happen as long as that black orb still existed.  
  
"B-back away! F-fire at her, everyone!"  
  
The remaining men fired their rifles but just like before, their bullets were blocked by a barrier made out of Demonic Energy. The Dark Matter just giggled at their frantic response.  
  
"I choose you~"  
  
Suddenly, the Dark Matter sped up with considerable speed, catching the man in front off-guard. The man could only scream in terror as the black sphere gently enveloped him. His comrades, horrified at the display, quickly turned around and ran as fast as they could from the scene.  
  
"D-damn you, the Arlandians, the Arlandians would get you for this!"  
  
Those were his last words before he drowned in pleasure, his expression turning into one of lewd bliss as he and the Dark Matter caressed each other's bodies, with the Dark Matter doing most of the caressing. It didn't take long at all until both climaxed at the same time. And when they did, a massive surge of demonic energy came out from the Dark Matter, almost like a bomb. It enveloped them, the monsters, and everything else in sight. All of the capital and its surrounding outskirts were covered by the dark monsterous mana, turning the bright blue sky into a black one. Demonic mana seeped into the very ground, transforming and mutating all the grass, all the trees, and all the crops that the people of Myluca had worked so hard to grow. You don't need to be sensitive with mana to be able to tell that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.  
  
"Good," Lucella said with a satisfied smile on her face. "Phase 1 complete. Now, onto Phase 2. Just as we had discussed, I want you all to cause as much chaos as possible. You don't have to win your fights. You just have to buy me time as I bring out Lady Druella from her prison."  
  
"Except for me, of course. My goal is to meet their alchemists. That is all," Saphirette interjected. She was annoyed that she was being grouped with the others.  
  
"Got it," said Elt, enthusiasm obviously showing on his face. He was happy that so far everything had gone exactly as they had planned.  
  
"Then, Elt and I would go--"  
  
"No, Elt-oniichan would go with me!"  
  
The former hero and the witch glared at each other. Both of them really wanted Elt to go with them. Unlike the others, Elt wasn't as strong thus he needed to tag along with one of them. Before they got there, it was already decided (mostly thanks to Lucella) that he would go with the baphomet, just so it would be fair to all his wives. However, here they were, arguing all over again.  
  
"I am the best at protecting him! I am his strongest and most devoted wife after all! Right Elt?" the fallen hero succubus said, pressing her ample bosom to the incubus' right arm.  
  
"S-shut up! I will be the one to protect oniichan and oniichan would protect me! We'll make the perfect invincible duo!" the witch replied, grabbing Elt's left arm as well.  
  
"Come on you two, please don't fight," Elt interjected with a gentle tone. "We all have decided that I would go with Lucella, right?"  
  
"B-but..."  
  
"No buts. We can't keep arguing like this. The Arlandians must be gunning for our position right now," he continued, patting both Wilmarina and Mimiru's heads.  
  
"Alright..." the two of them cooed in unison.  
  
The rest of Elt's wives looked at them with jealousy clearly written on their faces. Saphirette too, but for an entirely different reason. Looking at the scene just made her realize how wonderful it was to have a caring husband like Elt. She could also feel the same feelings coming from her elementals. She quickly put it out of her mind though. After she got the alchemists, then she could go husband hunting in this soon-to-be converted country.  
  
The group then immediately split up as they had been instructed. Only Lucella and Elt headed straight to the prison where Druella was being held. Lucella could sense her demonic energy, and she used that in order to track her down. Unfortunately, thanks to the Dark Matter sending Demonic Energy everywhere, it had become harder for her to detect Druella's own, especially with how weakened hers was. But no matter, she could still follow the trail, and that was good enough for her.  
  
Meanwhile, the Fallen Maidens were free to go anywhere they pleased, as long as they caused enough chaos in the location they chose so that Myluca's forces would be confused and divided to where they should head to.  
  
Saphirette on the other hand was heading straight to the capital. From Lucella's spies, she knew that the alchemists had their workshop there, so the chances of them being there would be pretty high. If they weren't there, then at the very least she could steal their books, notes, or anything else of interest relating to their so-called alchemy.  
  
Speaking of the capital, the king's palace inside was in a massive uproar. At first, there was a report of an attack going on in one of the frontier villages. But then, the next thing they knew, their Monster Radar Crystal, originally an alchemy tool called the Preview Crystal with the capability of detecting ores buried deep beneath the Earth, now modified to detect all sorts of monster presence and pinpoint exactly where they were located, was showing how a bunch of monster had appeared from one of their Warp Gates located outside the Capital. And then, before they could even formulate an attack plan, the sky had turned pitch black and the air had gone heavy and stale. Their land, it was transforming into a Demon Realm right in the front of their very eyes.  
  
Immediately, they contacted the Arlandians. Just their luck however, not every one of them was accountable, as Astrid had been in Arland for several days, and she brought the only trans-dimensional travelling tool with her.  
  
Their king, never really a strong man ever since he was born, was cowering in fear, begging at the current head of the Arland Republic to save him and his kingdom. They had just been in a meeting, and suddenly, this happened.  
  
"I beg of you, Sir Gio! Please, save our kingdom!" the king said. "If-if we make it out alive from this, I-I promise, I would agree with your proposal of joining your Republic!"  
  
Indeed, there had been such a proposal pressed forward by Gio. Well, it wasn't exactly by him, as he was more of a figurehead of the Republic. The Council of the Arland Republic back home, a conglomerate of little kingdoms and city-states who had agreed to join the Arland Republic, would only agree to lend Arland's full support on developing Myluca if they would join into the Republic. It was similar to how Arls, Meruru's kingdom, had joined. Her father, King Dessier, had decided that it was more beneficial for them and their people to join into the Arland Republic.  
  
"Understood. But please, calm yourself, Your Majesty. It is unsightly for a king to be cowering like this," he said to him. He had been a king once after all, before he turned his kingdom into a republic, that is. A king has to be strong, stronger than anyone else in his country. That was the belief he had held for his entire life, resulting in him holding the title of Arland's strongest swordsman. So seeing this, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, even disgusted, at the display.  
  
"My subordinate should already be informing Rorona and the others of the situation. They would move out immediately and subjugate the invading monsters. And I will stay here to protect you and the palace."  
  
He disliked staying here, to be honest. He wanted to go out and charge at the monsters, perhaps even with his Masked G persona. But Esty insisted on him staying here and guarding the king. Well, it made sense. The monsters would most likely aim at the king to cause even more chaos to the populace.  
  
"Now if you'll excuse me, I shall do some patrolling around the palace to assess the situation."  
  
Before the king could say anything, the swordsman had disappeared like the wind.  
  
\---------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Hmph, so they finally come at last. It's about time. I was just getting bored."  
  
The one who spoke was a lady called Mimi, or, to be more accurate, Mimi Houllier von Schwarzlang. As you probably could've guessed from the name, she was born of noble blood, of Arland nobility to be exact. Unlike most of her peers however, she had chosen the path of an adventurer, becoming one at a tender age of 14. Her goal in doing that was to make the name of her family be respected once again in Arland. Ever since the kingdom had transformed into a republic, the influence of the Arlandian nobility had weakened considerably. And since it was the beginning of the age of adventurers, what better way to become famous than becoming one of them? She aspired to become as famous as the legendary adventurer Gisela, a feat that she had achieved now thanks to her victory over Flauschtraut and the Tower Demon.  
  
She was originally not invited to be included in the incursion to this world, a fact that really made her mad. How dare they underestimate her? She immediately complained to her best friend Totori, demanding her to take her too with her when she returned to Arland. In the end, Totori relented, and now here she was, in this strange new world filled with monsters alien to their world. Like the others, she too had read the books written by the Wandering Scholar, and like the others, she was disgusted with the contents as well. And now, those monsters had came here to attack them, to turn this country into their so-called Demon Realm. She was never going to let that happen! She would teach them what it meant to pick a fight with Arland, to pick a fight with the great adventurer named Mimi Houllier von Schwarzlang!  
  
And so here she was running towards the source of the dark wave that had blanketed the skies. She was in the countryside when it happened as she was getting some fresh air and doing some patrols, just to stave off her boredom, so she saw how a massive wave of dark energy had come from a distance, spreading through her right towards the capital. And now, she just had to go to the direction from where it came and brought the culprit to justice. Along the way, she saw how there were groups of panicked farmers and other civilians running towards the Capital. Questioning one of them, she was told that there was a monster coming towards their direction. She then thanked them, before running towards the direction they had mentioned.  
  
Her destination was a church above a small hill. From a distance, she could already see the building. She hurried her steps, jumping as she climbed the hill with no problem whatsoever.  
  
Once she was there, she immediately found the monster. It was a green-haired lady wearing a black outfit reminiscent to the usual outfit succubuses would wear with a hat that resembled the hat worn by the priests and nuns of the Order. You didn't need to be a monster expert to know that she was one. You could just tell by her lewd expression and her unnatural presence. Her eyes widened however when she saw how there were a group of children in front of her. They were clearly terrified but they couldn't move their legs to run away from the monster. And the monster were grinning towards them. She had read the stories, of what the monsters would do to children. She had to stop while there's still a chance!  
  
"Get away from them!" Mimi shouted as she jumped towards them, her trusty Maenad's Lance in her hands. It was quite the peculiar weapon, as you couldn't really call it a lance, a spear, or even a halberd. Its head, made by the strongest metal that could be only created by alchemy called Regentium, was curved, not straight, and it was attached to a round wheel-like mechanism that also contained similar other blades around it, only much shorter. The way it worked was the big one would stay in place while the little ones would be spun by the wheel, allowing extra damage on the enemy's skin as they ripped it apart, causing a more significant wound than an ordinary spear stab. Oddly enough, such a brutal weapon was owned by a heroic female knight who stood against hundreds of enemies on her own to protect her land. Or so the myth said. It was just a replica of said weapon after all.  
  
The monster was surprised by her sudden appearance, but nevertheless, she managed to block her charge using a barrier formed by her demonic energy. Mimi quickly retreated, putting some distance between her and the monster.  
  
"Look children, such an impolite way of greeting someone, isn't it?" the monster said. "That is the way of the warriors of the Order. They don't care for anything else as long as they could slaughter the 'evil' monsters."  
  
The children didn't respond. Instead, they just stared at the two women with fear and confusion in their eyes.  
  
"Go now, my children. I will tend to you later. First, I have to save the soul of this poor warrior first," she said to them in a gentle tone while smiling. The children obeyed, running away as fast as they could from the scene.  
  
"Hmph, so you still have some decency in you after all," Mimi said, still aiming her weapon towards the monster. "All the better for me. I don't want any children to get caught up in our fight."  
  
The monster didn't bother replying to her taunt. Instead, she just looked at the figure of the warrior standing in front of her. Just like the other females in this country, she had an oddly high amount of spirit energy, almost like she was a male. And she didn't seem to be absorbing the surrounding demonic energy either. This meant she wouldn't be corrupted, no matter how long she stayed in this newly born demon realm.  
  
"Are you perhaps, one of those Arlandians?" the monster asked politely.  
  
"So what if I am?" Mimi responded.  
  
"Oh, I merely want to know you. We're going to be good friends after all~" the monster returned with a grin.  
  
"Ugh, no one wants to be your friend! Fine, if you want to know me so bad, then etch this into your mind! My name is Mimi Houllier von Schwarzlang, the famous Arland adventurer!"  
  
The monster noticed her long name. That kind of name must mean she was a noble back in her kingdom.  
  
She smiled. Many of her flocks were nobles. And they were all oppressed by their upbringings who didn't allow them any freedom. And they didn't even know anything about sex until the night where their arranged partner laid them down in their beds. She had so much fun teaching all sorts of pleasurable things to them.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Mimi. My name is Sasha Fullmoon, a devout Dark Priest of the Fallen God. And I come here to bring her gospel. Won't you lend your ear and hear her truth? I swear it wouldn't hurt~ In fact, it would be very pleasurable indeed~"  
  
Sasha Fullmoon. Mimi had heard that name before. She was the nun who had transformed the children in her orphanage, the very children she was supposed to protect, into lustful little monsters. But even before she transformed, she had been backstabbing the Order by leaking their invasion plans and having a secret monster orphanage in the forest.  
  
Mimi's thoughts returned to those children. If she didn't stop her here, then they would be--  
  
"Oh, don't make such a scary face," Sasha continued. "I am not a scary monster. I am not going to eat you. My wish is for everyone in the world to be living in pleasurable, sensual lives. You too could join such a happy life if you would just lay down your weapons and come to me. I would turn you into a cute little succubus~"  
  
"Who needs your help? I am already happy as I am right now!"  
  
Mimi launched herself once again towards the dark priest. This time, she had expected the priest to conjure her barrier, so instead of retreating, she began slicing and thrusting at various parts of the barrier as she kept circling her opponent. Her strength might not be much but she was still prideful of her speed. And sure enough, the barrier began to show cracks as her weapon hit it over and over again.  
  
 _"O Fallen God, please, grant me your dark light to show your truth to this child!"_  
  
A magic circle suddenly appeared around the dark priest. Mimi, realizing that an attack was coming, quickly jumped away, just in time before a burst of dark light came out from it.  
  
Sasha wasn't finished however, as a second magic circle appeared in front of her. Mimi was forced to retreat once again as a shower of dark light fired off towards her direction.  
  
 _Tch, this is bad! I can't stay close to her with all those spells! I have to burst down her barrier as fast as I can before she could finish her chant!_  
  
Mimi quickly dodged the incoming dark light once again before approaching the dark priest. But instead of taking the straight route, she instead circled around her, inching closer and closer in a spiral-like movement path. Doing this, the magic circle she conjured couldn't keep up with her speed.  
  
"Haa, take this!" she said as she leaped towards the priest once she felt she was close enough. This time, she attacked from an upward angle, putting the entire weight of her body in the thrust of her spear. And sure enough, with a single, powerful strike, the barrier shattered, giving her an ample opportunity to finally wound the monster.  
  
"it's over!"  
  
Mimi aimed her spear right towards the head of the dark priest. She intended to finish this with a single blow.  
  
Just as the dark priest had planned.  
  
A surge of dark tentacles suddenly came out around Mimi, halting her attack completely while at the same time immobilizing her. Mimi, realizing what was happening, quickly activated the spinning blades on her spear and swung it to the side. She did cut some of the tentacles that was binding her spear but they had grabbed her legs and torso as well. She tried swinging her spear to the tentacles binding her feet but the tentacles got to her hand first. And she, unlike Gisela, was not strong enough to free her hands from their bounds. Her spear dropped to the ground, and horror dawned on Mimi's mind. She had lost.  
  
"G-gah, release me at once!" the noble lady said as she tried to free herself to no avail. She was not going to give up just like that!  
  
Sasha smiled seeing Mimi at her current state. "It's okay. Just relax. Let me take care of everything, alright?"  
  
The dark priest chanted once again, and suddenly, Mimi felt that she couldn't move a single inch of her body. It was a paralysis spell.  
  
"Oh, you have such a lustrous black hair. And a cute bottom too. Shame on the chest part but there's a certain charm on being flat-chested, you know," Sasha said, her smile now looking positively lecherous. Her tentacles shared the same sensation as her own body, so when her tentacles rubbed themselves all over the noblewoman's body, it was as if she herself was molesting the poor girl.  
  
"Y-you... you won't get away with this!" Mimi shouted. But her shout carried a tinge of fear and despair, a fact that Sasha noticed well. This must be the first time she had ever been in a situation like this. Which just made it even better as a girl's first time must be special after all.  
  
"Shh, relax, my child, just let my tentacles wash over you. Soon, everything shall melt into pleasure, and you shall then realize the truth of the Fallen God."  
  
Mimi felt like she wanted to cry. She had never ended up in a situation like this. Not in her ten years as an adventurer. She had gotten cocky. She should've waited for someone else to help her fight this demon. Someone else, like  _her.  
  
"Hmm? This Totori person? She's really special to you, isn't she?"  
  
W-what? What is this? A voice... speaking inside my head?  
  
"Yes, indeed, my dear. I am the being humans call the Fallen God."_  
  
At first, Mimi thought she was hallucinating. But the voice was indeed there. She could hear it clearly. And it sounded sickeningly seductive to her ears.  
  
 _"Ah yes, indeed. This Totori is truly important to you. She is your very first friend after all. And she still continues to be your very best friend until today. However, you want more than that, don't you?"_  
  
Mimi could just imagine the smirk this god was making right now.  
  
 _"You love her. You love her so very much. But you are too afraid to make your feelings known."  
  
N-no, I-I don't--  
  
"Don't lie to yourself, my dear. See? This is what is wrong with human society. It has grown you into a dishonest person. You are dishonest to her and you are dishonest to yourself._"  
  
Mimi gritted her teeth. She could feel warmth entering all over her body, the tentacles doing their work on her.  
  
 _"You are born and raised as an aristocrat, right in an era where the commoners don't need your people anymore. You were sickly and bullied a lot as a little girl, by the very same commoners who should've respected you. Every day you came to your mother on her death bed, crying on how the bullies had treated you. But she kept cheering you up, saying how you should keep your chin up and be strong, as you were her daughter, the daughter of the Schwarzlang family. She taught you how a noble was someone who was born great, so you had to always keep up your appearance so the people would respect you. That was the reason why you tried so hard to become an adventurer, to the point of overcoming your frail little body."  
  
Shut up, shut up, shut up! You know nothing about me!  
  
"Oh, I know everything about you, my dear. I am a god after all. And I know that your entire life had been built upon a lie. And you know that very well yourself. You know that nobility didn't mean anything in the end. You have met Cordelia of the Feuerbach family, and they had bought their noble title with money. And she was more honest of that fact than you, which was why you hated her the first time you two met. You cannot handle the truth."  
  
I-I am not lying to myself! I really did want to become an adventurer out of my own volition! And I had become a great one at that!  
  
"Just like the hero Wilmarina Noscrim. She too had become a great hero by lying to herself for every single day of her existence. And just like she did to Druella, you will thank me after I turn you into a cute little monster and liberate you from the shackles society had unfairly put on you."  
_  
Mimi's rational thoughts were growing foggier and foggier as her entire body was devoured by pleasure. The Spirit Energy she had inside her was failing, allowing Demonic Energy to enter her body. She wanted to scream for someone, anyone, to come to her rescue.   
  
No, she wished for someone, that certain someone to come. More than anyone else.  
  
 _Totori! Please!  
_  
...  
 __  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
"How dare you do that to Mimi, you monster!"  
  
As if she was the Goddess of Thunder, she called down a massive thunderbolt from the skies, right towards Sasha. The Dark Priest managed to put up her barrier but the sheer force of the strike was enough to bypass its protection, electrocuting the Dark Priest, making her tentacles release Mimi to the ground.  
  
Totooria Helmod had arrived. And she was not happy.


	12. Chapter 12

The alchemist stood on her ground, her face filled with quiet anger as she stared down at the monster. Her worst nightmare had almost become reality, all thanks to this-- this creature in front of her!  
  
"Release her. Release her right now," she said as calmly as she could, though her voice still shook. Sasha, who was still recovering from her thunder strike, looked at her with an aghast expression. She might possess a diminutive stature, almost like a child. But this presence she was giving, her cold gaze, she felt like in the alchemist's head, she was concocting the many ways she would use her tools to erase her from this earth. And she was not wrong. That was what an alchemist would do in a combat. An alchemist relied on her tools, and the many ways she could use said tools. And at this point, Totori was seeing her completely as a monster, a monster to be destroyed.  
  
It struck terror in her heart.  
  
Totori reached into her handbag and from it, she took out what seemed to be a roll of carpet. The dark priest was confused by this. A carpet? What was she intending to do with a carpet?  
  
Totori then threw the carpet to the ground in front of her. It immediately began unfolding itself before hovering above the ground. A flying carpet? Was she intending to ride it into battle? Then she should--  
  
Totori returned her glare back at her once again, instantly stopping the dark priest in her tracks. She didn't need to say anything. It was all in her expression, that if she dared to even move a single inch, the alchemist would resume her attack. Sasha knew that logically she should be using her friend as a hostage but her legs simply wouldn't move. The fear... it had overtaken her. And it was a fact she couldn't comprehend. How could she still fear any human when the Fallen God was on her side?  
  
The carpet immediately flew towards Mimi and took her away from there, wrapping itself gently around her before taking her to where Totori was.  
  
"Uuh, To-to-ri, you came..." the defeated warrior said with a weak smile.  
  
"It's alright, Mimi, it's alright. You can rest now. I'll take care of her," Totori said, her stern look immediately melting to a warm one as she smiled at her friend, happy that she was alright. She then gave her a couple Secret Remedy pills to heal her wounds, feeding them into Mimi's mouth. She then sent her away along with the carpet. Mimi needed to rest for a bit. And, her alone was enough for a monster of this caliber.  
  
"So, I believe you're Sasha Fullmoon, one of the so-called Fallen Maidens from Lescatie. And you and the others are probably invading this country to rescue your so-called benefactor Druella. Poor you. You don't know that you're just being used," Totori said to the monster, an uncharacteristic mocking smile on her face.  
  
"I-I am not being used! I am here on my own volition! I wish to bring smiles and--"  
  
"Oh? I can't hear what you're saying over the screams of terrors in the air when you turned the sky black. They're certainly not smiling right now."  
  
"T-they just don't know any better! The Demon Realm is much more wonderful than--"  
  
"That's enough. I really am not in the mood to debate anything with you or your kind right now."  
  
Totori took out another item from her bag. This time, it was a parasol that looked like it was made out of water. You could see how light went through it as if it wasn't a solid object. Totori held the parasol up to the skies with her left hand and it immediately shot out to the skies like a rocket. It then expanded, covering a wide area underneath it, including the area where Totori and Sasha stood. It was almost as if a giant jellyfish was hovering over them.  
  
Sasha didn't need to be told that whatever it was, she wouldn't want to be under it, thus she slowly backed away while still keeping her eyes on the alchemist.  
  
"Are you... afraid?"  
  
Sasha stopped. Totori's face was still adorned with a mocking smile.  
  
"Why don't you call your Fallen God for help? I am sure she would love to give her help, especially to a faithful worshipper like you."  
  
 _That_ 's  _right, my dear Sasha. Remember, I am on your side._  
  
The dark priest immediately smiled with joy when she heard her god's voice once again. That's right! In front of her god's power, this girl would be nothing!  
  
 _Yes, have faith in me, my child. Pray to me and I shall grant you my strength._  
  
And so, she did. She fell to her knees and prayed as hard as she could to her Fallen God. Totori could've attacked her at this moment but she decided not to. Not because she was feeling merciful, no, she was too angry for that. She waited for she knew the true mastermind to blame was not Sasha, but the Fallen God who had corrupted her. And now, here she was, promising her help to her loyal servant.   
  
Totori smiled. She wanted to see this so-called god's strength.  
  
 _Descent! My beautiful angels of pleasure!_  
  
At the skies above them, a massive magic circle written in black appeared. And from it, came out multiple angel-like monsters, Dark Angels and Dark Valkyries to be exact. They were the corrupted versions of the angels and valkyries the Chief God possessed and now they belonged to the Fallen God forever. Normally, they wouldn't go out from Pandemonium on their own, as they would be too busy having love-filled pleasures with their husbands in their eternal realm, but now, they had been ordered by the Fallen God to help Sasha. The angels leered with a lecherous look towards the alchemists while the two valkyries looked at her with disdain as she had took away their time being with their husbands.  
  
"Stand back, human," one of the valkyries said to Sasha. "We shall take care of this swiftly."  
  
"P-please be careful, she's--"  
  
Before Sasha could finish her sentence, a waterfall suddenly fell right above the two valkyries, its force taking the two off-guard, sending them crashing to the ground.  
  
"W-wha--"  
  
"Stars in the sky, come falling down."  
  
Something small and pink suddenly dropped down from the skies above the angels. Five of them noticed it earlier than the other five, and they instinctively raised their barriers, right before the pink thing, who looked like a doll of a rabbit head, exploded into a massive surge of pink energy that obliterated the five unshielded angels into dust. The other five, who managed to put up their barriers, all fell down from the skies to the ground, their bodies filled with wounds.  
  
The waterfall had stopped and the valkyries stood on their feet once again. They couldn't believe what just happened. What in the world was that magic, they wondered?  
  
"As for you two..."  
  
Totori took out a miniature cannon and it instantly grew into a normal-sized one. And with a movement from her staff, the cannon fired off a massive blast of similar pink energy from before right at the two valkyries. One of them managed to dodge it but the other had to block it with her shield. Her shield soon cracked and she received the remaining energy right to her body, sending her flying quite a distance before the beam receded.  
  
"Why, you!"  
  
The remaining Valkyrie charged at Totori with her sword drawn. Totori merely responded with smile, moving her shining staff as she manipulated what looked like a cluster of black bombs attached together with spikes all around them, skulls adorning their surfaces. She aimed her staff at the charging Valkyrie, ordering the item to fly right towards the valkyrie. The valkyrie quickly responded by raising her shield, which blocked the explosion and the poisoned metal splinters that flew everywhere when it exploded. When the smoke cleared however, the valkyrie saw to her horror that Totori was already ready with another one of the same bomb. She sent it again but this time, the valkyrie suddenly felt something wrapping itself around her leg. It was the alchemist's Magic Chain, and it jerked her hard to the ground, causing her to lose her balance. She could only watch as the second bomb exploded right on her exposed face.  
  
"And that's that. Hmm, you guys aren't that strong. I guess the Fallen God didn't send her very best. Or is this really the best she has?"  
  
Sasha could only freeze in place as the alchemist wiped out an entire squad of fallen angels with ease. She couldn't believe her eyes. How could they all fall so easily?  
  
Totori walked past the defeated valkyrie. Her body was now full of wounds, both from the explosion and from the shrapnel the bomb gave afterwards. She was clearly suffering in pain as her demonic energy couldn't keep up in regenerating her body.  
  
"T-Talos... T-Talos... O-oh my Talos..."  
  
She was mumbling something. Was it a name? Who's name is that?  
  
"M-my dear... Talos..."  
  
Totori then remembered. How Dark Valkyries were so devoted to their husbands that even their Fallen God had to negotiate before sending them to battle to leave their husbands.  
  
She stopped in her tracks. In the end, she couldn't just abandon her.  
  
She took out an Elixir from her bag. She then threw the liquid all over her wounded body. Immediately her burn disappeared and her wounds closed. It even cured the poison. The shrapnels however, she had to remove them by herself. She then gave her another bottle of her Elixir, telling her to share it between her comrades.  
  
"Take your remaining forces and return back to your home. And tell the Fallen God to send better angels next time," Totori said with a smile.  
  
The valkyrie could only stare at her, not believing what she just did. She had thought she was done for, yet she, her enemy, had saved her.  
  
She stood up, wincing at the pain the shrapnels that had entered her body was causing. Knowing very well that they had been thoroughly defeated, she flew slowly to her other comrades to check on their conditions.  
  
Totori continued her walk, still walking towards the Dark Priest, who was now cowering, not knowing what her next move should be.  
  
 _T-this was a mistake! I-I shouldn't have come here! Oh Elt! Elt! Where are you, Elt?!_  
  
All she wanted was to spread the happy teachings of the Fallen God. How did it end up like this?  
  
"I know you were once a good person, Sasha," Totori spoke. "It was the Fallen God who transformed you into this form. So if you would just surrender, then I wouldn't have to waste more of my bombs."  
  
 _Help me, Elt! Oh, Fallen God, please, grant me strength to defeat this-- this demon!_  
  
But no one answered.  
  
"S-stay back!"  
  
Sasha reflectively summoned her dark tentacles to surround her, in an attempt to ward off the alchemist from going any closer.  
  
Totori sighed. "Well, suit yourself. This is going to hurt, you know."  
  
Totori took another one of her items from her bag. This time however, it was a some tiny thing. It was half the size of her palm.  
  
"This is my N/A Bomb," she declared to her as she held up the miniature bomb between her index and thumb fingers. "It might be small but it packed quite the punch. I suggest you focus all your efforts in protecting yourself or else you might really die from the explosion."  
  
Totori then threw the bomb right towards the dark priest, Immediately, she grabbed the bomb with one of her tentacles, thinking that she could throw it back before it exploded.  
  
As if that would ever work.  
  
The bomb immediately exploded, enveloping all her tentacles and herself in a sphere of flames. Sounds of repeating explosions could be heard as if the bomb was exploding again and again and again. And then, it finished off by a big explosion that sent a pillar of flames to the skies.  
  
When the dust cleared, Sasha had fell to the crater, her body not moving a single inch. It was still intact however, which was a miraculous feat. Perhaps it was because the epicenter of the explosion wasn't right at her body.  
  
Totori approached her and took out a syringe. It was the same syringe Astrid used to capture Druella. It was filled with the drug that would disable the ability of monsters to convert spirit energy into demonic energy as well as transforming the demonic energy they had to spirit energy, weakening their strength considerably. After injecting her with the drug, she then took out her Magic Chains once more and bind her with it, or, to be more exact, binding her to the nearest sturdy tree she could find. Only after that then she used her Elixir to heal her wounds.  
  
"U-urgh..."  
  
When Sasha opened her eyes, she saw that Totori was standing in front of her, with a stern look at her face.  
  
"Stay here. I have to go fight against the rest of your friends. I have no time to carry you back to the city."  
  
"W-why did you--"  
  
"Because, as much as it angered me to see what you did to my friend, I know that you did it under the influence of demonic corruption, so I cannot hold it wholly against you."  
  
"However, you have seen what I did to that angel army back then. Alchemy is both the power to create and to destroy. And as an alchemist, and an adventurer, I have killed many monsters that threatened the people. And some of them did look quite human-like, just like you. And I would not hesitate to use their remains for my synthesis either."  
  
"So please, never do this again, alright?"  
  
The last thing Sasha saw of the alchemist was her running towards where her friend went.  
  
 _Oh Elt, please... be safe..._  
  
After witnessing Totori's power, the dark priest had now realized how big of a mistake this invasion was. She wasn't even sure that Lucella could handle her. And there were four of them.  
  
She could only pray to her god for everyone to be safe, especially her love Elt.  
  
But once again, the fallen god did not answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explanation for the items used in this chapter. Can't fit it in the text itself since I feel it would be breaking the flow too much.
> 
> The first item Totori used to call down the thunder was called Lightning Quartz, a crystal with electricity contained within it. It contains the same amount of electricity an ordinary household uses over two years.
> 
> The second item, the parasol made out of water, was named Heavenly Parasol. It was an item to be used in a desert to keep you cool as it drips down water and deflects the heat of the sun. This version of the parasol was an improved version designed by Totori herself to act as an offensive tool, allowing her to call down great surges of water from the skies. The flow of water could be controlled by her staff.
> 
> The third item who summoned the bunny doll head thing was called Meteor. You raise it up to the sky and pray for something to fall down from it. That something could be various things, depending on the quality of the Meteor itself. The bunny doll head is the ultimate version of the Meteor, as it's basically a bomb that explodes into pure energy. The joke is that the effect is named Falling ??? so no one really knows what that doll really is.
> 
> The fourth item is the cannon. The same cannon that was used back at the start of the invasion.
> 
> The fifth item is called Diocraft, a mechanical bomb that is designed to not just explode but also fire off poisoned metal splinters everywhere. 
> 
> The sixth item is Magic Chain. Just an alchemically reinforced and living chain.
> 
> The last item is the N/A Bomb. It's designed to focus its firepower in a small area. There's another version which would blow up a huge area instead.
> 
> Oh, and I suppose there's also the Flying Carpet. As usual, it can move on its own. Very useful at rescuing an injured person and taking them away from the battlefield. Even though the name says it's flying, it can't really fly that high and it mostly hovers around the ground.


	13. Chapter 13

_"Strong! She's too strong!"_  
  
Gabrielle was panting, the fight had taken her toll on her. It was not just physical tiredness. The hits the echidna had landed was taking her toll on her. She could feel her demonic energy circling inside her body, weakening her even further.  
  
It wasn't just her either. The two others with her was panting as well. George and Lumina. They were a pair of heroes that had come here for training, just like her.  
  
The three weren't originally together when the invasion began. She didn't know what the two were doing but she was doing her usual training away from the capital. And then, all hell broke loose and she immediately ran back towards the capital to regroup. Unfortunately, she failed to do so as she encountered the echidna in front of her on the way. She was attacking a group of soldiers thus she told them to retreat while she took on the monster. She then quickly realized how outmatched she was. She knew that the echidna could've finished her much quicker if she had not decided to play around. Just when she thought she was going to lose, the other two heroes appeared, restoring her fighting spirit immediately. However, even with the extra people, they were still outmatched by the sheer strength the echidna possessed.  
  
"Hmm? Is that all? I thought heroes are supposed to be stronger than this," the echidna said with a proud grin on her face. "Well, no matter. I suppose I should finish this soon. My dear husband is waiting for me after all~"  
  
"L-Lumina, hear me, you... you retreat while I distract her... Gabrielle... you go with her..." the swordsman said as he grunted.  
  
"N-no, don't even say that!" the cleric responded. "W-we can win this! I'm sure of it!"  
  
"Oh, how cute," the echidna interrupted, clearly looking amused at their situation. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to turn you into a beautiful monster, my dear, and your darling would be able to watch every single moment as you moan in pleasure in the process."  
  
"You! Get away from her! Haaah!"  
  
The swordsman ran and leaped towards the echidna, his sword glowing with holy energy. The echidna responded by blocking her blow with her halberd, covered with the opposing dark energy. Seeing how the young man had put every single remaining strength he had on the attack, while the echidna was still standing, looking perfectly fine, it was clear who was the victor in their engagement.  
  
The swordsman fell to the ground, his stamina being already exhausted completely. He had to hold on to his sword who was stabbing the ground as his legs were quivering. He couldn't even stand up anymore.  
  
"Just stay there and be a good kid, alright?" the echidna said with a smile before leaping right towards the wide open cleric with her superhumanly strong snake tail.  
  
"B-barri--"  
  
Before she could finish her barrier, the echidna had already swung her halberd into her stomach. Just like your usual monster weapon, it didn't really wound her. Instead, it just sapped her Spirit Energy and injected Demonic Energy to her body. The cleric immediately fell down to the ground, dropping her staff from her hands.  
  
"No! Lumia!"  
  
Gabrielle charged at the echidna with her own holy sword attack, but once again, it didn't do anything to the monster as the echidna retaliated by kicking her with her tail right on the stomach, sending her flying away a few meters.  
  
"Now, let's begin, shall we?" the echidna said, wrapping the still paralyzed cleric with her tail. "Just relax. I shall soon give you a new and wonderful body that your darling would certainly love with all his heart." The cleric merely responded by crying, crying in fear on what was going to happen to her. The echidna looked at her and it just made her much more fond of her. She was so cute. Terribly cute, in fact. She could tell that she was hiding quite the bosom underneath her loose robes. No wonder her lover was so fond of her.  
  
The echidna leaned forward, intending to start by teasing her cute little ears.  
  
...Only to stop abruptly as she sensed an attack coming. She blocked it just in time with her halberd, and she discovered that the one emitting the killer intent was not Gabrielle but another person entirely.  
  
"Hey, hands off my pupil!" the newcomer said with a grin.  
  
Gabrielle's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was just like those fairy tales she knew when she was little, where the hero would come to the rescue just when everything seemed to be lost, only, it was a hero being saved by a non-hero instead.  
  
"M-Mrs. Gisela!"  
  
Gisela turned her head to the side and grinned. "Oh, Gabrielle. You look pretty beaten up there. It's okay though. Your great teacher is already here after all."  
  
Without warning, Gisela kicked the stomach of the echidna, the force actually pushing the creature a few feet back. The echidna coughed, spit coming out from her mouth.  
  
 _W-what strength! But I can't feel any divine energy from her! There's no way she's just an ordinary human!_  
  
The cleric, now had been released from the echidna's tail, fell down to the ground. But Gisela managed to catch her with her left hand before her face hit the dirt down below.  
  
"Yep, this one's out of the count too. Hey, Georgy, take her and leave this place. Don't tell me you also can't move!"  
  
George, who had recovered somewhat, quickly stood up and took Lumina from her hand, thanking profusely to the female adventurer.  
  
"Don't mention it! Just doing my job as an adventurer, that's all!" Gisela answered with a grin.  
  
The two retreated straight away. But Gabrielle hesitated in following them. "Mrs. Gisela! I-I still can--"  
  
"Nah. You'll just get in the way."  
  
Gabrielle's chest hurt when she heard those words. But she was right. She was still too weak to fight against the echidna without burdening Mrs. Gisela. And so she retreated as well, leaving only Gisela and the echidna.  
  
"So..." Gisela said, swinging her sword to the side, "You're one of the invaders, huh? And judging from what you did to those three, you must be one of the strong ones. Well, you're in luck! I too am one of the strong ones on this side!"  
  
The echidna eyed the woman warily. This inhuman strength... and without any divine power... she must be an Arlandian!  
  
The echidna readied herself, bringing her halberd into a defensive stance. Lucella had warned her about them. But judging from her weapon, she doesn't seem to be one of the alchemists, which means this should be easier.  
  
"Ha, a defensive stance? Am I fighting a coward or what?"  
  
The echidna didn't change her stance. She would not be provoked by any of her words. A calm mind would win the fight. That's what she always hammered to her students when she was still a weak human. And that wouldn't change even when she was a monster.  
  
"Alright then. If you're not going to attack, then I will."  
  
Gisela leaped towards the echidna, her scimitar aiming for a downwards swing. Instead of blocking however, the echidna leaped away, dodging her strike with finesse.   
  
 _What in the--_  
  
What happened next exceeded even her wildest imagination. With just a single swing, the Arlandian had split the ground where she used to stand.  
  
"Impressed?" the Arlandian said cheerfully after seeing the surprised expression on her face. "This is why I often cause property damage when I fight sometimes. My strength, it's just unparalleled, you know."  
  
The echidna gulped. It seemed this wasn't going to be easy after all.  
  
"Ah, I almost forgot. I haven't introduced myself, have I? Name's Gisela Helmold, the strongest adventurer of Arland. How about you introduce yourself too, Miss Snake Lady?"  
  
"...Merse. Merse Dascaros."  
  
"Hmm, Merse? I think I've heard that name in that book. Are you one of those so-called Fallen Maidens from Lescatie?"  
  
The echidna didn't answer this time.  
  
"A silent treatment, huh? Alright, I don't really care either way. I have no interest in talking to someone that weak after all."  
  
"W-weak? I am not weak!"  
  
Gisela's smile turned into a grin. It seemed she had hit the spot.  
  
"Oh? How can I call someone who is never comfortable with her own self strong? I am fine with someone who's weak physically. The man I fell in love with is really weak after all. And I too have my limits after all. I have been defeated by someone stronger than me before. But to be weak in spirit? I can't have any respect for someone like that. And you, Merse, you're one of them."  
  
The echidna glared at Gisela hearing those words. Her hands shook as she gripped her halberd even tighter.  
  
"I AM NOT WEAK! I'VE LEFT MY OLD--"  
  
"No, you're just running away. You're never strong. Not yesterday. Not today. And certainly you're not going to be tomorrow. Not with that way of thinking. I feel pity for you, really. With you as a monster, it would be even harder to change that way of thinking of yours, what with that Demonic Energy thing swirling around your brain. Now, you just outright believe that transforming all human women into monsters would make them strong. It's just another attempt to deny your old self, isn't it? What your mother did was certainly horrible, I would have slapped the woman if I had met her for sure, but that doesn't mean that all human women are like that. And you're insulting me and other mothers who truly love their husbands and kids by thinking like that."  
  
Merse didn't have any response to that. Instead, she just gripped her halberd even tighter.  
  
"Oh, by the way, how's your daughter? I read that you're supposed to be pregnant with a child." Gisela said, suddenly switching back to her cheerful tone. It took the echidna off-guard. She thought the woman would end her speech with her continuing her attack.  
  
"S-she's fine. She's back home..." Merse told her.  
  
"That's great, isn't it? I hope your daughter's a cute one! Aah, I still remember when my kids were babies. They're so cute back then! Not that they're not cute today, of course!"  
  
 _W-what's with this woman? She just suddenly talked like some common housewife all of a sudden!_  
  
"So then, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back home playing with your kid? Now you're going to a war like this."  
  
"W-well, Elt is here and he wants to save Lady Druella."  
  
"Ah, Elt, huh? Your husband, right? Where is he now anyways? I just hope for his sake that he's not fighting one of our alchemists. I've seen what my daughter could do with her bombs and it's really something else."  
  
Merse was about to tell her that he was with Lucella so he should be safe, but she stopped herself before the words could come out from her mouth. It was the equivalent of telling their enemy their strategy after all.  
  
"Alright then, let's get down to business."  
  
Just as abrupt, the Arlandian put on her serious face once again.  
  
"You leave this kingdom right now, back to that Lescatie place, and I promise that I won't chase you down. I really don't want to kill a mother, you see. I know very well how a child would feel growing up without their mother being around. Once, I messed up and I couldn't return home for years, with my own family writing me off as a dead person. And the anguish my family felt that day, I really don't want to give it to your daughter."  
  
The echidna returned to her thoughts with her baby once more. Perhaps this woman was right. Perhaps she should retreat and run away.  
  
...  
  
"No, no I can't run away! I won't run away! My dear Elt is out there, fighting! And his other wives are fighting as well! I am not a coward that would abandon them!"  
  
"Ha-hahahahahahaha!"  
  
Gisela laughed. Gisela laughed as freely as she could ever laugh.  
  
"Alright, so you do still have some pride in you. Fine. I'll fight you. Just don't blame me if you get killed, alright?"  
  
Gisela launched herself towards the echidna, once again taking the monster by surprise. Merse quickly responded by raising her halberd once again. This time, it was a slashing move coming from the right. Merse managed to block it but she could feel the frightening strength behind her blow. The force echoed all over her body. If not for her coating her weapon with a lot of her Demonic Energy, it would've shattered for sure.  
  
"Gah!"  
  
Gisela didn't relent. She continued her assault, giving blow after blow after blow towards the echidna, all the while grinning confidently as she did. The echidna managed to block every one of her blows, but it was beginning to take its toll on her stamina. Meanwhile, Gisela wasn't showing any signs of tiring whatsoever.  
  
 _Tch, I have to break out of this!_  
  
Merse summoned her black tentacles to attack Gisela, but the Arlandian was good enough to notice the sudden assault, quickly backing off before they could reach her. But that was enough for Merse as it gave her an opening to cast a fireball spell towards her. Gisela simply dispelled the spell with a single slash of her sword however, the force being enough to overwhelm the fireball.  
  
"Ah, those things again... You monsters seem to be real fond of them," Gisela said, reminiscing to her fight against the baphomet. "You want to keep me away from getting close to you, aren't you? Well, too bad. Just because I use a sword doesn't mean I don't have a ranged attack."  
  
Gisela began to spin her scimitar, gathering the air current near her, creating something like a small tornado as she spun harder and harder.  
  
And then, she sent the swirling weapon right towards the echidna.  
  
The echidna quickly responded by creating a barrier all over her. The weapon crashed into it with a loud, thunderous noise, but instead of stopping right away, it still spun right there drilling and slashing into her barrier. It didn't take long until the barrier shattered, but it was just as Merse had expected. She immediately sent a surge of her tentacles to stop the weakened spin of the sword.  
  
What she didn't expect however, was Gisela running straight at her and punching her right in the stomach.  
  
Merse's eyes widened with shock and pain as she coughed blood out of her mouth. The sheer force sent her flying a couple meters away, her landing face first into the dirt. The scimitar? It was already back in Gisela's hand.  
  
"Give up. You know how badly you're outmatched here."  
  
Merse rose up, looking at Gisela with hatred in her eyes. She could not be defeated here. Not when Elt and the others were still fighting. And she owed Lady Druella so much for giving her this beautiful and strong monster body.  
  
"You... you can't be human! No human is this strong! Not without a hero's blessing!" she shouted at Gisela.  
  
"Hey, that's rude, you know. I'm perfectly, 100% human. Well, I can't blame you though. Many other people say that I fight like a demon. They even get nightmares from it. Can you believe that?"  
  
Merse had enough of this. If she couldn't win by being defensive, then she should just take the offense right away.  
  
"Hyaah!"  
  
She used her tail to jump straight towards Gisela, her halberd aimed right towards the woman. She began launching a flurry of stabs at her. most of it being parried by the Arlandian. But some of them managed to get through, dealing small wounds on Gisela's body.  
  
 _I-it's working! I just have to keep this up and eventually I'll overwhelm her for sure!_  
  
Gisela wasn't looking too worried however. She just defended herself calmly as she looked at the echidna.  
  
"Hmm, your weapon... it's just wounding my energy, isn't it? And it's also injecting your demonic energy into me. You humanoid monsters really don't want to kill humans anymore. But I wonder, is that really your will or is it just your Demon Lord's will ordering you not to kill humans anymore?"  
  
Merse didn't answer. Instead, she used her tail for a quick swipe at the Arlandian. It didn't do anything however as Gisela simply kicked her tail back.  
  
"Ah, I shouldn't be asking this to a converted human. You wouldn't know since you're not a monster originally. I do wish to speak with some of the more prideful kind of your people however. Like dragons. Yes. I imagine they hadn't been happy that they were forced to love humanity by your Demon Lord's spell."  
  
Merse summoned her tentacles to aid in her fight. Gisela responded by using the sheath of her sword in her left hand as a blunt weapon to repel them. When one or two managed to grab her wrist or legs, she simply pulled the wrapped body parts with astounding force, snapping the tentacles immediately.  
  
"Alright, I guess this is enough. Time to end this."  
  
Gisela suddenly used her right leg to kick Merse on the side, knocking the echidna unbalanced momentarily. And she used this opening to cut both of the echidna's arms, making her drop her halberd to the ground.   
  
"Gyaah!"  
  
Pain surged into the echidna's body. Blood poured out of her two stumps.  
  
Gisela wasn't finished however as she slashed her stomach next, causing her even more pain.  
  
"Oh, almost forgot. Gotta take out that strong tail of yours too."  
  
And without any pause, Gisela separated Merse's human upper body with her snakelike lower body, leaving only a short stump attached.  
  
Unsurprisingly, Merse lost her consciousness afterwards. Her snake tail however was wriggling around, just like a lizard's tail who could still move after it was detached from the main body.  
  
"Hmm, did I overdo it? I sure hope I didn't overdo it. Hey, Ares, did I overdo it? Can you keep her alive in this state?" she shouted to the skies. She knew about the Goddess of Fighting and how she would make people miraculously survive in war and combat.  
  
"I'll leave it up to you, okay? I really don't want to make her children an orphan!"  
  
She then noticed how the wriggling tail had started to attach itself back to its main body. Gisela then checked for the heartbeat on the echidna and sure enough, she was still alive.  
  
"Hey, I don't know if you can hear me or not but when you wake up, please stop fighting, or else I'll end your life for real next time. Just stay here and don't attack anyone, alright?" Gisela said to her.  
  
She then walked back towards where she had ordered the heroes to retreat. It turned out that Gabrielle hadn't gone very far, as she had been watching her fight safely from the distance. She had almost jumped out to Gisela's rescue when she was being overwhelmed by Merse's attacks, but thankfully, her belief in her teacher managed to stop her in her tracks.  
  
"Ah, good, you're still here," Gisela said to her once she arrived, a wide, happy grin on her face. "Take care of that monster, will you? She's severely wounded but she isn't dead yet. You should put some barrier spell on her or something, just in case if she decided to go on a rampage again after she woke up."  
  
"Oh Ms. Gisela, you're alright!" Gabrielle said with tears on her eyes as she gave her a hug. "I-I thought you're going to lose there for a second."  
  
"Hey, that's insulting, you know. Who do you think I am? I'm not gonna lose to a monster like that!"  
  
And so Gabrielle decided to stay here guarding Merse. She had permission from her to kill the echidna straight away if she tried something funny. Gisela on the other hand immediately left for the next battle. There were other monsters to fight after all and she couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of meeting them in combat. Merse had given her quite the decent fight, something only a strong monster could do. That was good enough for her.


	14. Chapter 14

"Where are you looking? Your opponent's right here, you know."  
  
Koyoi grunted with frustration as once again, she had to create a barrier to block the knives the woman was throwing at her.  
  
 _Tch, at this rate, I won't be able to get into the royal palace at all!_  
  
Koyoi had joined Saphirette and the others in assaulting the capital straight away. Unlike them however, she didn't assault the front gates. Instead, she sneaked in when the chaos began. A great decision, she had thought, as the front gates were now being defended by one of their alchemists. And she had summoned a giant pie, of all things, to help with her defense. Who in the world would use pies in that manner?  
  
However, her plan had stumbled upon a massive block, as it wasn't just the alchemist that was defending the city. This woman, who was currently chasing after her, she must be one of them too. And what a warrior she was. She had to apply a speed-boosting talisman to herself just so she could keep up with her inhuman speed. She couldn't sense any divine forces from her, so how could she be this strong? And she might be fast but Koyoi knew her movements were all perfectly calculated. She was keeping her from going near the royal palace.  
  
It seemed she had no choice. She had to take down this woman if she wanted to proceed.  
  
She took out a talisman and began whispering words into it. Unlike when she was human, she now used her demonic energy to inscribe the runes on it. Said runes were now much more stronger than when she was a human, thanks to demonic mana just being generally stronger than normal mana.  
  
When the writing was complete, she immediately slapped it on her exposed upper thighs.  
  
"Whoa--"  
  
The Arlandian was surprised. The monster she had been chasing suddenly turned around and kicked a wave of black sludge towards her. Thanks to her quick reflexes however, she managed to change her direction and leaped out of the way before any of it could hit her.  
  
"Tsk, I missed," Koyoi said, now looking eye to eye with her chaser, who was smiling at her without a single sign of tiredness on her body.  
  
"You're one of those Arlandians, aren't you?" Koyoi asked. "Your fighting style, it's nothing like the style the usual Order heroes employ. And I can't sense any divine energy from you either."  
  
"Yep, that's right. Esty Einhart, at your service."  
  
Koyoi couldn't help but feel irked at her attitude. She smiled as if she was looking down at her.  
  
"And you must be, hmm, Koyoi the Inari, right? Used to be a demon slayer from Zipangu. Now had joined the monsters as one of the so-called Fallen Maidens."  
  
"H-how did you--"  
  
"What, you didn't know? That Wandering Scholar guy had been writing about you guys. With Druella's approval too. Thanks to that, we already have intel on you people."  
  
"O-oh, right, him..."  
  
Koyoi remembered him vaguely. Like a typical monster, she barely paid any attention to a man that wasn't her husband.  
  
"I don't know what was inside your master's mind when she gleefully allowed such records to be written. That's like giving intel to your enemies for free. Maybe she just thought the humans would be too dumb to exploit it. I mean, you guys are pretty big on looking down on humans, right? Well, unlike you folks, we're pretty big at getting intels on our opponents, including monsters. You kinda have to do that when your land is filled with them, where at anytime, a monster attack could happen. Thankfully, our monsters are pretty dumb back home, unlike you people."  
  
"Well, if you think you're gonna win against us, then you must be pretty dumb too."  
  
Without warning, the woman leaped at Koyoi, her movements a blur. It took the inari by surprise but the guarding talisman she had pressed on her stomach underneath her clothes saved her from any major damage. As the blur passed by her, she could feel multiple slashes for her twin blades landing on her.  
  
Koyoi immediately countered by surrounding herself with her dark tentacles. If she hadn't done that, the blur would have slashed her throat. Before she could retaliate, the blur was already gone and the woman was already back at her former position, as if she hadn't moved an inch.  
  
"Why, you!"  
  
"Whew, that was close. Almost forgot that you would have those tentacle things."  
  
Koyoi had enough. That was too close for comfort to her. She had to go all out against her. She thought she would save her strength but it seemed that wouldn't be possible.  
  
Her eight tails began to rose up and they were lit in black fire. This was the ability she now had as an inari. There were eight of her tails, just short of one until she became a kyuubi. And a kyuubi was said to possess an immense, almost god like demonic energy. And now, her power was just below that.  
  
She began to float from the ground, landing on the roof of the house behind her. The Arlandian woman followed suit, jumping upwards with ease to her own rooftop.  
  
"Hey, if you're going to play with fire, please be careful not to hit any of the buildings here," Esty said with a sigh. "You can start a massive fire, you know."  
  
"Oh, don't worry," Koyoi replied with a smirk. "My fox fires are special. They would only burn their target and their target only. And it would burn them with such an immense pleasure that a woman like you would immediately fall down and pleasure yourself as you make a lovely lewd face."  
  
Koyoi sent out her flames towards Esty. Their speed was nowhere as fast as the woman knight, but there were eight of them, and Koyoi could control the movements of each flames, allowing her to tactfully move her flames to surround the knight, making her superior speed useless. Esty never let that happen though as she gracefully ran, leaped, ducked, and jumped to dodge them all. She tried to cut them down with her swords but they just went pass through them.  
  
Koyoi smiled. The knight was clearly on a disadvantage. Now she would just---  
  
"What?"  
  
Esty suddenly broke out from the flames' surround, moving in a zigzag pattern with unbelievable speed. She had saw an opening in the formation of the flames, a split second opening that only someone as agile as her could exploit. She went straight to Koyoi, who was once again, in a state of off-guard.  
  
Koyoi reflectively raised her tentacle guards once again, but this time, Esty was ready. She cut through all of them with unbelievable speed as she circled around Koyoi. The onslaught only stopped once Esty did a stabbing motion towards the inari's throat, only to be blocked by a talisman.  
  
"Hmm, pretty good. You're getting faster now," the female knight said with a smile.  
  
She then immediately ran away as the fox fires had came, protecting their master from any further assault from her.  
  
Koyoi panted. Her heart was beating fast. That was close. Really close. Once again, she couldn't follow her movement.  
  
Her only option was to use that technique. It was a technique she could never use as a human. But now, that she was an inari with a much bigger pool of demonic energy, she should be able to do it.  
  
Esty watched warily as she started up her technique, taking out multiple talismans which floated around her. The knight readied her stance, where she would split her legs apart and lean forward, lowering her back. It was indeed an odd stance. But she was no ordinary fighter in the first place. If you imagined a female knight, you would think a woman wearing a full plate armor with a shield and a sword. Perhaps with a cape as well. But those medieval era knights were long gone from Arland. For starters, Arlandian knights don't belong to great knight families like your typical middle age kingdoms. The position was never inherited, and anyone could become a knight, if they just put in the effort. Secondly, it wasn't that necessary to wear armor if you're at a certain level of strength. Especially not to someone like Esty who preferred speed over defense. And lastly, you might think that her job was just to guard the head of the republic. But she was also acting as his spy and agent. When there were talks of an anti government faction rising up, she was the one who investigated them.  
  
If you had to compare her style with anything, then it would be more suited to call her an assassin.  
  
The koyoi finished her spell. The talismans had transformed into clones of herself. Shadow Clones. This was a ninja's technique originally but she had adopted it into her own version. The clones were solid and just as deadly as the main body.  
  
"Interesting technique you have there," she said to the inari. "I know only one person who could do that. But yours are quite different, aren't they? They're formed out of your magic, instead of just by being really, really fast that you leave afterimages behind."  
  
Koyoi was once again taken aback hearing her words. Creating afterimages by just being really, really fast? So that means they would be even faster than this woman whose speed already turned her into a blur every time she attacked?  
  
"Nonsense! No human could be that fast!" she blurted out in anger.  
  
"Perhaps not the humans in this world," Esty responded with a smile. "But in our world, we don't have gods to help us fight against monsters. If our humans were as limited in strength as the humans in this world, then we would probably have gone extinct a long time ago."  
  
Hearing that, Koyoi couldn't help but think of the worst. She imagined an army of Arlandian humans, marching right into Lescatie, all as strong as the person who could create those afterimages.  _T-there's no way they're all that strong, right?_ But their world had monsters as well, and with monsters being generally stronger than humans, being above them in the food chain, for these Arlandians to survive in their world without any blessings from the gods, they must have rivaled or even surpassed their monsters.  
  
 _T-that's enough, Koyoi! If you fear the enemy, you would never be able to win against them!_  
  
And thus, she and her clones charged at Esty, their hands covered by fox fires. If she couldn't win by speed, then she would win by numbers.  
  
Esty merely grinned as she suddenly disappeared. It was her sidestep technique. Like the name said, she simply sidestepped with a speed so fast the enemy wouldn't be able to follow her movements. Usually, she used it to get behind the enemy and get a backstab at them, which was she was doing here as well.  
  
 _Behind!_  
  
One of Koyoi's clones managed to catch her movement however, and since all informations were shared between her clones, the others realized as well. The clone being targeted managed to block Esty's sword swipe with her fox-fire covered arm, but she still felt her skin being slightly wounded from the attack. Esty might not specialize in strength but her blades were still made with Regentium, the alchemy metal that had surpassed even orichalcum, the metal of the gods. Esty was about to do a second swipe but she backed out when two of the other clones lunged at her, their fox fires forming blades on their hands. She reached into her coat, pulling out one of her knives and throwing it at the middle clone. She wasn't fast enough to respond this time, as the knife landed right on the middle of her forehead. The clone soon vanished as a result. Unlike the original, the clones had a certain threshold of damage they could take before they would just dissolve into nothingness.  
  
"One down!" Esty said as both parties were back to warily watching each other. "I imagine doing that technique drains quite a lot of your energy, which is why you can't summon your tentacles to aid with your defense."  
  
Koyoi hated to admit but she was right. Doing this took quite a toll of her demonic mana. But she only needed one hit. One good hit at this woman and it would be all over. The fox fire would burn inside her and she would be corrupted in an instant. If only she could get a surround on her. But there was no way she would just let herself be trapped like that. The moment she ordered her clones to go behind her, she would definitely move away from her position.  
  
"Hmm, guess this time I should take the offensive."  
  
Esty once again launched herself as a blur. This time she was aiming at the leftmost clone. Koyoi immediately ordered that clone to defend while the others leaped to her position as fast as possible. The inari smiled. The Arlandian had made a mistake. And she would make sure she paid the price.  
  
Only for the knight to change her trajectory right when she arrived in front of the targeted clone, jumping up to the air with great strength.  
  
"Wha--"  
  
And then launching herself right at Koyoi's real body, her dual blades ready for a stabbing motion.  
  
"Gah!"  
  
Koyoi managed to block both blades with her talismans, one in each hand. However, the blow this time was different, as Esty was putting her entire weight in the assault. Her legs were raised up in the air, concentrating all the force into the sharp tip of her blades.  
  
Koyoi could only watch with wide, shock-filled eyes as the blades pierced through her talismans, stabbing her hands in the process. They entered through her palms, all the way up to her shoulders. And then, like it was nothing, the knight's feet landed on her shoulders and kicked her full force, releasing her swords from her arms and sending her away from her.  
  
Koyoi let out a scream as the pain burned through her. Blood flowed out of the hole the knight had created on her hands.   
  
Esty wasn't finished however. Back in midair, she took this chance to send out a barrage of knives right at the inari. Every single knife she had was unleashed on the staggered inari. They landed in every part of her body, causing even more pain and wounds to the monster.  
  
This was enough to knock her down to the ground, dispelling her shadow clones before they could reach the knight.  
  
"And that's it. Whew, that was quite the workout," Esty said after she landed. Gracefully, as usual. With her agility, she could've become an acrobat if she hadn't chosen the life of a knight.  
  
She then came over to the defeated inari, kicking her to make her lay down on her back instead of her front.  
  
"You should be grateful that I have this poison with me or else my knives would have already landed on your throat and brain."  
  
Esty took out a syringe from her pocket containing the anti-demon energy drug. She injected it right away to the now unconscious monster.  
  
"This should prevent you from going anywhere. Oh, and I want my knives back please."  
  
The knight began taking out the knives on the inari's body one by one. She felt a little bad that she might be hurting the inari for doing so, but she got no time to be gentle. There were still other enemies to take care of after all.  
  
Once she finished, she stood up and looked at Koyoi one more time. Any ordinary monster would die with that many wounds. She was still losing blood even as she watched.  
  
Well, no sense thinking about it. She had no healing potion with her. She'll just left it to that Ares goddess.  
  
She left the inari behind, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as she headed towards the others.


	15. Chapter 15

When the sky turned dark, Meruru was busy synthesizing with Totori and Rorona in their atelier. They didn't need to be outside to notice that something had gone terribly wrong. The change in the atmosphere made it quite obvious. The air turned heavy and their skin crawled. And of course, the light of the day stopping to come in from their windows was the biggest sign. The three quickly got out and witnessed how there was now a black sun hanging on the sky.  
  
Esty then came, jumping down from the nearest rooftop, bringing them the bad news.  
  
It was then decided that Rorona would stay back and handle the defense while Totori and Meruru would head out and intercept any monsters that approached the city. Totori and Meruru would go their separate ways, as the surrounding area was quite big and open. That way, they would cover more area.  
  
And now, Meruru was heading towards the farmlands. She had met with fleeing farmers and soldiers who said that there was a monster over there. They said the monster had covered the entire area with demonic tentacles. Even if they wanted to fight back, they couldn't even approach her with how many tentacles were surrounding her.  
  
Meruru nodded, saying to them to get to safety and to leave everything to her.  
  
Only once she arrived at the scene that she realized the extent of the damages the monster had made.  
  
The farm, filled with golden wheat, just a few days more until they could be harvested, was now gone. They instead had been replaced by dark-bluish wheat, a sign that the crops had been corrupted with demonic energy. It wasn't just a small patch either. The corruption extended for at least a mile in radius. And in the middle of all that, there stood a women. Meruru couldn't see her lower body as it was covered by the wheat stalks, but her skin color was enough to tell her that she was a monster.  
  
"Hey, you're the monster that attacked the farmers, aren't you?" Meruru shouted. The woman didn't answer however. She just continued to stare at something else, not even noticing the alchemist's presence.  
  
 _Maybe she didn't hear me..._  
  
Meruru looked at the corrupted stalks once again. Would it be even safe for her to enter? For all she knew, they could all turn into tentacles and wrap themselves all over her body if she entered.  
  
 _I have no choice... I have to make a path... Sorry, Mr. Wheat..._  
  
Meruru took out what looked to be an artillery of some sort, with a mushroom-shaped rocket as the ammunition. This was her Peacemaker. It was the strongest bomb she had ever created with her alchemy. Its explosives were no ordinary explosives as it utilized an alchemically created small sun among other energy and heat-generating materials to feed its destructive power. It was basically a miniature fusion nuclear bomb, only without the radioactive effect. It merely rained fire and strong pressure from its explosion to the enemy.  
  
 _This should be far enough..._  
  
The artillery adjusted the angle of the rocket on its own, as Meruru's staff gave the alchemist's command to it. Once the angle was correct, it launched the mushroom-shaped rocket on its own. The target was not the monster, but rather, the middle of the corrupted farm. Meruru knew the explosion radius really well, a requirement for any alchemist who employed bombs and explosives in her arsenal, and she knew it wouldn't hit the monster. It was just to burn down these corrupted wheat stalks and get the monster's attention as well.  
  
Before the rocket could land however, a surge of tentacles suddenly jumped out from the fields right towards the bomb. They wrapped themselves on it, preventing it from falling to the ground. Of course, this only meant that it exploded mid-air with a great burst of flames. The tentacles around it were erased into nothingness while the rest downwards were wriggling around in pain as they caught in flames. As the bomb was also made by magma stones, it also would rain lava all around its surroundings as it exploded. The corrupted field caught on fire as well, burning both the wheat stalks and the tentacles hiding among it.  
  
"What a frightening destructive power you have there."  
  
The monster finally spoke as she turned her body towards the alchemist. She had hoped she would just walk into her fields on her own so she could ambush her with her tentacles, but she didn't expect she would have such a long range weapon. There was nothing like this in the briefing they had about the capability of the alchemists.  
  
She was still calm however, as her mushroom rocket thing still couldn't reach her. In range, she still won.  
  
She was now speaking at her with a loudspeaker spell as her voice wouldn't reach her if she just spoke normally.  
  
"To think that you would burn down the fields your own farmers had so carefully grown, just to kill a monster. Humans really love to kill and destroy."  
  
"W-what? Where are you speaking from?" Meruru looked around. Her voice was being emitted and transferred by the demonic energy in the air so it sounded like it was coming from all around Meruru.  
  
"Relax. It's merely a spell that allows us to speak at range," the monster explained.  
  
"I-I see," Meruru replied. "...Wait, so you can hear me just fine all this time? So why didn't you answer then? I asked you if you're the one attacking the farmers here!" Meruru said angrily.  
  
"Heehee, that's right. My name is Francisca Mistel Lescatie, Fourth Princess of the Lescatie Kingdom, or at least I used to be. Now, I'm just a wife of my dear husband Elt. It's a pleasure to meet you," the monster said as she curtsied, though from where she was standing, Meruru wouldn't be able to see it clearly.  
  
"Oh, so you're that princess from the book. Greetings! My name is Merurulince--hey, I'm not here to play nice! I'm here to kick your butt for attacking us! You're one of the invading monsters, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes, you are correct. I am indeed one of them," the roper replied with a grin. "That crown... are you a princess, by a chance? You came from that land called Arland, right? So you're a princess of Arland?"  
  
Unlike Meruru, Francisca could see through her tentacles. She could feel through it as well, which was why teasing and playing with the maids and noble ladies in her castle were so much fun and pleasurable to her.  
  
"Well, I used to be one, until my kingdom merged with Arland, and Arland is a republic so it doesn't have kings and princesses and stuff..." Meruru explained.  
  
"Hmm? A republic? I never heard of such a thing," Francisca replied. "A country without kings and princesses? So who sits on the throne and rules then?"  
  
"I'm not sure exactly how it works but it's the people who rule. So they would have representatives and said representatives would discuss things with the Prime Minister and the Head of the Republic," Meruru answered, her face looking unsure in her answer. "H-hey, I'm not here to be given an exam like this! Like I said, I'm here to kick your monster--"  
  
"Heehee, alright, alright, I understand. You're not the type of princess that likes to study things like that, are you? You're more of the tomboy type. Your family must have given you a lot of freedom, to be allowed to act and dress like that instead of being a proper princess. How nice~"  
  
"Oh yeah, they treated you horribly back when you were a human, didn't they?" Meruru replied, recollecting the story written in the book. "Man, I can't imagine how I would be if I were born with a sickly body! But I would probably be fine because I have Miss Totori on my side! She's a really amazing alchemist, you know! I'm sure she can heal just about any illness you throw at her!"  
  
Hearing the word "alchemist", Francisca's attention perked up.  
  
"So you're one of them, I take it? Those so-called alchemist?"  
  
"Yep! I'm the proud apprentice of Miss Totori!"  
  
Francisca paused. She had gotten the hard enemy, it seemed. No matter. This just meant one less alchemist that could hinder dear Elt as he rescued Lady Druella.  
  
"Then how about we be friends?" the roper then asked with a smile. "As princess to princess, surely we have a lot in common. We could talk about our overbearing parents and those snobby, annoying nobles. And I'm really interested in hearing about your alchemy."  
  
"Y-your friend? A-aren't you gonna try to corrupt me?" Meruru replied, taken aback by the roper's sudden offer.  
  
"Of course," Francisca said, her smile getting wider. "Once you become a monster, then we could be real friends. I promise I would be gentle with my tentacles~ It would all be pleasurable."  
  
"N-no! I am not going to turn into a disgusting monster like you! Those tentacles of yours, they're all wriggly and slimy and there's no way I'm gonna let any of them come close!"  
  
"Oh, you don't have a choice~ You gotta let them get close to you if you want to get to me~ My tentacle range is quite far after all~"  
  
"Let's see about that, shall we?"  
  
Meruru jumped back, putting some more distance between her and the hotbed of tentacles in front of her. And then, she took out another one of her Peacemaker.  
  
"Ah, another one of those? Alright, let's see if your little rocket can actually reach me."  
  
Once again, Meruru launched her mushroom rocket. This time however, she aimed straight at the source of the tentacles. Unbeknownst to the roper, her previous attack was not the maximum range of her weapon. She had wrongfully assumed that Meruru had been trying to kill her from the start.  
  
The rocket flew up to the sky, to the point that Francisca couldn't even see where it had gone. Only when it returned that she realized it was going to land straight at her location. Quickly, she ordered her tentacles to form a dome above her. The rocket clashed with the dome, burning the mass of tentacles forming it but failing to harm the roper whatsoever.  
  
"So, is that all you--"  
  
"I'm still not finished!"  
  
Meruru launched another one of her Peacemaker rockets. Francisca just chuckled seeing it. She still had many, many more tentacles at her disposal. And she could regenerate and recreate them really easily, especially with all the demonic energy in the air. No matter how many times she attacked, it would never reach her. And she knew that she would eventually run out of ammo sooner or later.  
  
Unfortunately, once again, the roper had made a mistake. That previous attack, it wasn't even the full strength of her Peacemaker.  
  
 _W-what? There are more than one?_  
  
This time, the mushroom rocket split into many rockets as they descended back to the ground. And their trajectories were aimed right at her surroundings. Even if they wouldn't land right on her, the explosion radius would still catch her and she would be sandwiched by explosions from all sides. Quickly, Francisca created multiple tentacle domes, each one blocking one of the rockets. It worked, and she still prevailed unscathed.  
  
 _Whew, that was close. I certainly didn't expect--_  
  
"This is the final one! Take this!"  
  
Meruru launched another one. Francisca then realized that she didn't have enough mass of her tentacles to block any more of her assault. And there would be no time to regenerate the amount needed before the rocket landed.  
  
She'd been had. So the previous launches were just to thin out her tentacles. This was the rocket that was going to harm her.  
  
 _I-I have no choice! I just have to make the thing explode in mid-air! I should be able to take the lava shower and the blast with minimal damage!_  
  
She moved her tentacles upwards, readying them to catch the rocket once it came down from the clouds.  
  
 _There it is!_  
  
Once again, her tentacles managed to catch the rocket. And just like before, it exploded before she could throw it away from her.  
  
What she didn't expect however was the size of the explosion.  
  
It was nowhere near the explosion the previous rockets had made.  
  
This was Peacemaker's true power.  
  
From the explosion point, a huge ball of fire was created, followed by an immensely loud sound of explosion accompanied by a strong gust of wind. Even from that far away, Meruru could feel the explosion's power. The world seemed to shake and the dark sky turned bright as the flames shone. Francisca was swallowed whole by the explosion, along with her roper tentacles. The land was laid waste, with some of it turning into lava as the heat turned them liquid. All the way from the city you could see the massive explosion.  
  
Meruru stood there, looking at her handiwork. The ancient recipe book described it as the ultimate weapon for peace. No country would dare to attack another country with such firepower in their disposal.  
  
When the explosion died down, she took out a Nimbus Stone and split it into two, creating a raincloud that doused the remaining wheat crops, which was burning. It also doused the ground, allowing her to walk on it safely without her shoes melting to the heat.  
  
She ran towards where Francisca should be. But when she got there, all she found were a wasteland and a crater. She couldn't find Francisca's body anywhere. Only ashes remained.  
  
She had killed her.  
  
A surge of feelings entered Meruru's head at that moment. This wasn't the first time she had killed a humanoid monster. She had been challenged by a group of ancient demons in combat and she took on their challenge, as they could give her really rare materials and she also wished to test the limits of her strength. One by one she put those demons to eternal sleep, and taking the remains of their bodies for use in her alchemy.  
  
But this, Francisca wasn't even originally a demon. She was merely corrupted by Druella and turned into one.  
  
And she had ended her life, just like that.  
  
She thought she wouldn't die, that she would be strong enough to survive a full power Peacemaker. That's why she didn't hold back. She rarely, if ever, held back in a fight against a monster.  
  
These monsters were more fragile than she thought.  
  
 _Y-you didn't do anything wrong, Meruru! Using those Peacemakers was the best way to fight her! If you have entered the fields and try to fight her close range, you're just asking to be overwhelmed by her tentacles! Sure, you can create whirlwinds to protect you with the Pinwheels but how many would be spent just to reach her? And she's not the only enemy! There are still other monsters to fight for sure!_  
  
She shook her head. This was no time to think of such things. She still had other monsters to fight.  
  
And so she left the charred and burned field, her heart weighing heavily on what she just did.


	16. Chapter 16

Granting inanimate objects autonomy, allowing them to move on their own, following their master's commands. It was something out of a fairy tale, of the tale of a wizard enchanting his brooms and mops to clean up on their own. But now, it had fallen to the realms of reality, thanks to the power of alchemy. To think that the original living tools recipe was written as mere doodles in a children's drawing. Not even being turned into a child and losing her memory could diminish Rorona's skills as an alchemist.

But now, when she had returned to her original age, with her memories returning, she could take that skill to an even higher level.

Guardian Pie. That was the name she dubbed for this creation of hers. Astrid gave her the idea, saying it would be handy to have something like it just in case the enemy decided to attack. And just like she had predicted, the enemy did attack.

And so Rorona had to unveil her creation to the world.

It was a giant pie, far bigger than the size of a human body. It was quite immobile, but it had an amazing endurance, as one of its ingredients were dragon scales, giving it the toughness of a dragon, and it had the ability to repair itself as well. Its main way of attacking however was not by throwing itself to the enemy. Instead, from its body, hordes of little pies would come out and fly towards the enemy. Carnivore pies. Pies that had decided to rebel against their fate to be eaten. They wanted to be the one eating their baker instead. All of them were equipped with sharp teeth, ready to bite anything unfortunate enough to stand in their way. The idea of their creation had come from a certain accident years ago where Rorona created a Living Pie who questioned her on why it was created, only to get angry when she revealed that it was only created as a delicious food to be eaten. Of course, these Carnivore Pies were different than said Living Pie. They now followed their creator's orders without question.

Why pies, you may ask? Well, Rorona really, really loved pies. It was only natural that she would want to make all sorts of pies that could only be created through alchemy. And this was a result of said dream.

Currently, she and her pie were standing in front of the gate to the city, guarding it from the invading monster that threatened to break it open. That monster was Saphirette. Or, to be more exact, Saphirette and her Four Elementals. Unlike the others, she wanted to test her strength against the alchemists with full force. So she thought, what better way to do that other than just to storm the front gate?

Mimiru was there too, watching from the skies. She also had taken interest on the alchemist that had come out to face her, especially since she had just brought a giant pie out of nowhere to fight them. She thought it was quite hilarious.

Wilmarina had been with them, along with Primera. But they had gone on ahead after breaking the wall. All the alchemy cannons mounted on the walls could do nothing against their combined might, even with them firing their overdrive lasers at the same time. Saphirette simply ordered her corrupted Gnome to create a giant wall made out of the earth. Combined with her own reinforcing magic and Mimiru's, those lasers failed completely to pierce their defense.

And then the cannons broke, and the humans had lost their main means of attack.

It was far too easy for Saphirette to wipe out their remaining resistance. Undine would flood them with her waters, Slyph would lift them off their feet with her winds, and Ignis would just burn them with their flames. There was really nothing they could do other than to wait for reinforcements.

And when Rorona came, panting and out of breath, the remaining soldiers cheered as if their savior had descended from the heavens.

The reason why she came late was that she needed to finalize the synthesis for her Guardian Pie first. The pie was still imperfect as it would die and break apart on its own after a few hours from when it was created. So she had to wait until an attack came then she synthesized all the already prepared ingredients beforehand. Thankfully, the synthesis was fairly quick so the soldiers didn't have to wait for long.

When Saphirette saw Rorona, she let out a smile. She told her Elementals to withdraw and regroup to her side to their annoyance, as they were in the middle of looking for their husbands amongst the defeated soldiers. Just like their master, they too were quite desperate in that aspect.

"Are you one of those Arlandian alchemists, by any chance?" she asked.

"Y-yes, I am! And I am not going to let you to destroy the city!" Rorona replied, a determined look on her face.

"Relax. I'm not here for that. I'm here to meet you, or to be more precise, to meet your kind. I am quite the scholar, you see, and I am really, deeply interested in your so-called alchemy."

"Eh, really? Really really?" Rorona replied, her voice suddenly becoming really enthusiastic as her eyes widened in excitement. You see, she had always been looking for students to teach alchemy to. But so far, the only student she had successfully taught was Totori. The other children she had taught could not understand her explanations at all and they all stopped coming after just one or two sessions. It couldn't be helped. Her teaching method and explanations were simply too esoteric for them. Only Totori managed to understand her explanations.

"T-then you shouldn't have attacked the city! I-I'm definitely not going to teach you now!" Rorona continued.

Saphirette looked at Rorona with disbelief. Was this really one of those Arlandian alchemists? She seemed pretty slow in the head. There was no way someone who could make all those miraculous creations be this dumb. Or was she just really naive and she was really a genius when it involved her craft?

No matter. She would just have to test her to find out.

"Oh, you wouldn't have to worry about that," Saphirette replied with a smile. "You would teach me eventually. After I turn you into a monster that is. Elementals! Have fun with her!"

With just that simple command, all four of her corrupted elemental spirits flew towards Rorona; all having lewd grins on their faces. The alchemist looked real vulnerable to them and they thought she would be easy prey, especially since she looked really unthreatening.

"Come out! My guardian pie!"

Rorona quickly took out her special pie from her bag and threw it to the ground in front of her. In an instant, the pie grew massively in size, as it expanded in an almost disgusting manner like some sort of a pulsating, beating biological monster, catching everyone present off guard. No one could've expected a pie to act like that. It was both comical and horrifying at the same time. The elementals had the same opinion, as they paused and retreated to the skies as an unknown factor had entered the battlefield.

When it finished, its size was well over a normal pie's size. It was as tall as the walls protecting the city. And its diameter was at least 100 meters wide.

"What in the-!"

Saphirette had no idea what to think about the sight she was witnessing. A pie? She's using a pie to fight them? And that pie had just turned into a giant pie?

"Ha-hahahahahahahaha!"

Saphirette suddenly laughed out of nowhere. This had gotten so much more interesting to her. It was really worth it for her to go here personally.

Mimiru who was watching from the skies was also impressed by what she saw.

"Whoa, it's a giant pie! I wonder if it's as delicious as a normal pie…"

"Guardian Pie! Unleash your Carnivore Pies at the enemy!"

At Rorona's commands, a swarm of normal sized pies popped out one by one from the giant pie's crust. They all could fly and they were all half-split, allowing one to see the dark filling they had inside them. That, and what looked like fangs attached to the ceiling and the bottom of their insides.

The carnivore pies immediately went after the four elementals. Sylph took the center stage. With her power, she created a wall made out of high pressure wind that would shred any object that tried to enter. To her surprise however, the swarm of pies were barely harmed by the wind. She didn't know that they were made with dragon scales, thus giving them the durability of a dragon. The wind did made them circle around the elementals however as they were caught in the flow. But even in that state, they were still inching closer to where they were.

"Tch, how can pies be this tough?" the wind elemental complained.

"Ha, leave it to me then! I'll just burn these pies to a crisp!" Ignis responded. She began heating up the tornado that Sylph had created, combining it with her own flames. However, it did nothing as well, as dragons were quite renowned for their resistance to heat and flames after all. Not that they would ever imagine that they were fighting what amounted to a swarm of little dragons.

"N-no way! They aren't burning at all!" the fire elemental exclaimed.

"Stay your flames, Ignis. If they have such a high resistance to fire, then my water should work."

Next was Undine's turn, and her choice of attack was to shoot out high-powered jets of water towards the pies. At first, the pies seemed to be able to resist it, but eventually, combined with Sylph's own high-pressure wind, they began to knock out the pies from the skies one by one.

"Oh no, my pies!" Rorona exclaimed as she saw one by one her carnivore pies fell down from the skies. "Guardian Pie! Unleash more pies at them!"

"Oh no you don't!"

Gnome had broken free from her sisters. She had decided to aim straight at Rorona herself who was controlling the whole thing. Being an Earth elemental, she had to be near the Earth to exert her power, so she flew down. Unfortunately, being so focused towards the alchemist, she didn't notice the Guardian Pie's movement before it was too late. A gash opened at its crust and from it, a thick, black liquid shot out to the skies like a pillar, right towards the elemental.

"W-w-w-what is it?" she exclaimed as she was immobilized by it. Immediately she felt pain all over her body. The liquid was not just thick and sticky. It was also highly poisonous, as it was basically Dark Water in pie filling form; Dark Water being the ultimate poison made via alchemy that combined all known poisons into one single liquid.

The pie was not finished however, as it immediately retracted its Dark Water filling back into itself, dragging the Gnome down with it.

"Gnome!" Sylph shouted to her opposite. "Release her at once, you giant oversized pie!"

She gathered her strength and fired her wind towards the giant pie. But it was too late as Gnome was already swallowed by the pie before her wind could reach it. With anger, she raised the strength of her tornado, as she wanted to slice the giant pie into pieces with her wind blades. But her tornado could not lift the pie while the sharp wind itself only managed to chip the pie slowly. It did make Rorona almost lose her footing however, thus she immediately countered by bringing out her Pinwheel, who created a tornado to the opposite of the Sylph's tornado, somewhat cancelling its force.

Suddenly, the earth trembled. Gnome had not given up even though she had been swallowed by the pie. She hardened her body and manipulated the ground to tear a hole on the giant pie from its bottom. And from said hole she managed to escape, building her own tunnel away from the giant pie's location.

"Gnome!" Sylph said with joy when she noticed her friend safe and sound.

"Haa… haa… haa… that was close…" Gnome said to her.

"Eww, what are those black stuff on you?" Ignis chimed in.

"O-oh, right! Undine, get this thing off me at once! I'm pretty sure it's poison!"

Undine did as she was asked too, firing off her water to clean Gnome's body. She also used her power to heal and cure poison on her friend.

"Really, how careless you could be?" the water elemental said. "At least we all know now not to underestimate this Rorona person and her creations."

Saphirette had been watching from the sidelines, and all this time, she was clearly entertained by the display. How could she have created something like that? And not just the pies. She also saw how she could create her own tornado using a pinwheel. Saphirette didn't sense any elemental presence on her, so she wasn't commanding a Sylph to do so. She also didn't sense any usage of spirit magic so it wasn't a tornado spell either. The pinwheel was definitely the key. It had to be created by her alchemy.

The next batch of carnivore pies came out from the Guardian Pie. This time, the elementals knew what to do. Undine and Sylph took the lead, knocking down the pies from the skies with ease. Ignis and Gnome took the fight right to Rorona, but this time, they made sure not to fly right above the Guardian Pie. Ignis attacked first, summoning hordes of fireballs aimed right at Rorona. Rorona quickly responded by throwing what looked to be a miniature snowman towards them. It was an Ice Bomb and its cold quickly cancelled out the heat from the attack. Gnome then attacked, creating a surge of stalagmites from the ground towards the alchemist. Rorona responded by bringing out her flying carpet and using it to dodge the stalagmites just in time by flying up to the air.

"Tch, so close!" Gnome exclaimed in annoyance. "And now she's flying. Great. Hey Sylph, knock this woman out from the skies, would ya?"

"I'm busy taking out these pies!" the wind elemental shouted back. "There really is no end to them!"

"We really need to take out the big pie itself," Undine chimed it as she shot down another pie."But it simply has too much toughness. Accompanied with its self-repair ability, it's practically indestructible."

"Wait, it can heal itself?" Ignis shouted. "Urgh, this is so annoying! Let's just go after that Rorona girl!"

Without waiting for the others, the fire elemental flew right towards Rorona; her speed being enhanced by the rocket-like booster she had created on her feet. She intended to tackle Rorona right out the skies. Even if she threw one of her ice bombs, she was confident that she could just fly through them.

Unfortunately for her, Rorona had other plans up her sleeves.

_What is that? A stone tablet of some sort? What can that thing-_

Her thoughts were cut short as her body suddenly received a major cooling down. Her sight turned pure white as ice surrounded her entire body.

_W-what just-_

Ignis had no idea on what just occurred. The last thing she knew was that she was flying towards Rorona. And then she was suddenly assaulted by a blast of really cold air and ice like this. It took her off guard, making her fall from the skies.

The truth was, Rorona had just used a Time Litograph.

As the name suggested, it was a stone lithograph with the ability to control time. She used it to stop time for a few seconds, freezing Ignis in place, before launching multiple Bomber Ice at her. The ice bombs shaped like snowmen strapped into a rocket all flew towards her and hit her without her being able to dodge or defend herself. Her fiery body couldn't possibly hope to melt all the ice that had hit her.

Rorona was not finished however. As the time stop effect vanished, she took out her special Ice Bomb and threw it down towards Ignis who was now lying down on the ground. How was it special, you may ask? Well, it was created with the property of Perpetual Motion, enabling it to constantly explode and freeze the area around it for eternity. Insoluble Ice Bomb was its true name. Meruru was the one who originally found the recipe at Makina Domain, a strange and mysterious pocket dimension that could appear in one place and vanish the next day, only to appear in an entirely different place. It was another proof of the amazing achievement of the ancient civilization who had ruled Arland eons ago, since the Domain itself was full of gears turning in perpetuity, suggesting that it was artificially created, and not a natural phenomenon.

The bomb landed right at the Ignis's stomach, and before she could do anything, it exploded, harming and immobilizing her once more. She then tried to move but the bomb exploded again. And again. And again. And again.

There was no escape.

"Ignis!" Gnome shouted in anger. "You! You'll pay for hurting Ignis, alchemist!"

"Wait! Hold on!" Undine shouted. But it was too late as Gnome already rushed towards Rorona's position. She didn't wait until she got close to start her attack. She manipulated the ground below to send a swarm of rocks towards Rorona. And she herself intended to tackle her personally as she coated herself in an armor made out of stone. Rorona quickly responded by bringing out a Pinwheel and creating a sphere of whirlwind around her as a method of protection.

"Hah, as if some wind is going to stop me!"

The rocks she had sent from down below all failed to penetrate the strong wind. However, Gnome herself managed to get through. Gritting her teeth, she added weight and sturdiness to her body, allowing it to not be pushed or harmed by the raging wind. Her hands were outstretched to the front. She was ready to grow them into a massive pair of stone hands to grab the alchemist once she pierced the wind barrier.

Only to be greeted by a head-sized pink heart floating right towards her.

_W-what?_

Before she could process what she was seeing in front of her, the pink heart touched her face and exploded.

The blast caught her off guard, making her lose her grip on the enhancements she had cast on herself. The tornado didn't wait even a second before swallowing her whole. The Earth Spirit lost her consciousness as the shock and pressure were too much for her, as she was being spun around and around and around in unbelievable speed.

The pinwheel eventually ran out of energy however, releasing the spirit to join her fallen sister on the ground. The remaining two spirits could only watch in horror as even though they wanted to at least grab her before she hit the ground, they were busy fighting with the endless swarm of carnivore pies that the guardian pie was still producing.

"T-that's two down…" Rorona said to herself, panting between her words. The battle had clearly taken some toll on her. Perhaps not much physically, but mentally, she had been barraged by all kinds of continuous attacks. A couple of times she almost didn't bring out her tools in time, but the many battles she had fought against all sorts of monsters in her travels had taught her to always remain calm even in the face of a relentless assault.

"Demonic Judgment."

Without any warning, a dark purple spear made out of pure darkness shot out from the sky, piercing Rorona's body and the flying carpet she was standing on.

Rorona's eyes widened in shock as she fell down from the skies, as the platform she was standing on had been shredded by the spear, losing its power in the process.

_W-what? N-no… I-I can't…_

"Huhuhu, you forgot I was here the whole time, did you?"

The culprit descended down from the clouds. It was Mimiru. And she had a big, satisfied grin on her face.

"Haa, you Spirits are just so miserable, I have to go down and help after all," she bragged. "Hmph, she wasn't that tough after all. She went down with just one strike of my Judgment."

She then looked at Saphirette who was still frozen in surprise at what just transpired. She too had forgotten that Mimiru was around, as she was so taken in by the fight.

"Alright, there's your alchemist. Do whatever you want with her. I'll let you have this one. But the other two, especially the one with the underdeveloped body, that's going to be a Witch for sure. Or even a Baphomet, if she's good enough, that is," she said with a grin.

"Wait, hold on! The giant pie! It just took that girl out of the sky!" Slyph shouted.

The two immediately turned around and sure enough, before Rorona could fall down all the way, the Guardian Pie had produced a tendril made out of its fillings and grabbed Rorona with it. Then, it immediately brought her inside the hole it just created on its skin. And when she was safe, the hole closed immediately.

"S-screw you, I'm not going to let you have her!"

Mimiru quickly rushed towards the Guardian Pie with the intention to cut down the tendril, but she was slowed down by a horde of carnivorous pie that had threw themselves towards her.

"Move away, you stupid pies!"

She produced an aura of cold around her, freezing the pies. But it was too late, as Rorona was already safely deposited inside the giant pie.

This was another function of the Guardian Pie. It could store the wounded inside itself, protecting them from any harm from the outside.

"Tch, no matter. We'll just cut this thing open right away!"

She indeed spoke true. This was definitely not a victory for the human side. The soldiers, who had been watching the battle from the distance, all fell into despair as their hope had been taken down. The only thing protecting them now was this Guardian Pie, but no matter how tough it was, it surely couldn't win against the remaining monster forces. The carnivorous pies it could spawn were still no match against their power.

"Q-quick! A-ask for reinforcements! T-there should be other Arlandians in the city!"

"Y-yes Sir!"

"And the rest of you, charge! We must protect Miss Rorona from harm until help came!"

The soldiers did as they were told. Not just because it was an order, but also out of their own will as they really believed in the strength that the Arlandians possessed. If they let any one of them fall, it would land a huge blow to their fighting force. And some of them even had the fortune of meeting with Rorona in person. Even though her personality was nothing like what you would expect a hero to be, she was still a sweet and modest woman. They would never want to see her turn into a monster.

"Haah, now the little fries want to play to. Alright, Mimiru's going to take them on. You, on the other hand, take that annoying pie," she ordered Saphirette.

"...Very well. That suits me just fine," the Dark Matter replied back. She didn't like how bossy the witch was being, but her target was really the alchemist. If she could just crack that thing open, she would obtain her goal and she could just retreat without really caring about finishing the job to invade this country.

She hovered to where her two knocked out subordinates were. When Rorona was knocked out, the Insoluble Bomb seemed to have stopped exploding on its own.

_Interesting. It seems it really listens to its owner's will. A lot of alchemical creations seems to act in a similar manner._

She took the bomb and brought it with her. It should be a delight for her to study later on.

She then looked at the torn Flying Carpet. It now looked like just any ordinary torn carpet. It wasn't flying or moving an inch. She took it as well, bringing it to her personal storage dimension with her magic. Another material to be researched later on.

_Well, I really shouldn't need to research them if I managed to turn this Rorona woman into a monster. Then I could just ask her and she would give me all their secrets and more._

Saphirette grinned. The secrets of those Arlandians' alchemy were finally at her hands.

After that, she revived her two down subordinates. An injection of her own demonic energy should suffice. With how many demonic energy was around, and her own sizable pool as a Dark Matter, it was not a big deal for her to do so. And as she finished, Gnome and Ignis returned without a single scratch on their bodies. All the damage Rorona had inflicted were totally undone.

"So, you two have learned your lessons now, not to charge in like that without coordinating with the others?" she said to them. Sometimes, Saphirette acted as the spirits' older sister, as silly as that sounded. This was one of those times. Even though a pact between an Elementalist and a spirit were supposed to be a pact of equals, Saphirette had managed to become the dominant one in the relationship.

"U-urgh, w-where? W-where is that-"

"There. She's inside that big pie." Saphirette interrupted Gnome. "She had been taken down by Mimiru and now the pie is protecting her."

"Ha! Not so strong are you not, Roro-whatever?!" Ignis said as she laughed.

Saphirette looked at the giant pie. It had stopped sending out carnivorous pies a while ago. Perhaps it was turning on its full defensive mode?

"Gnome. Dig down and drill upwards right underneath it."

"Aye aye, Ma'am!"

She did as she was told only to find out that the pie had hardened itself considerably even underneath as she failed to make any progress in drilling upwards. It really had decided to go full defensive, it seemed.

"Uu, I'm sorry... " Gnome said after she returned; a bump on her head as she had turned her head to be the drill. "Since when it got that hard?"

Well, no matter. There were always other ways to crack a hard nut after all.

Saphirette gave an ominous smile. It was just a matter of time.


	17. Chapter 17

The castle was eerily quiet, as if the structure itself were waiting with bated breath for something to happen. Soldiers stood in front of the gate and on top of the walls, looking anxiously at the empty streets in front of them since all the citizens had barricaded themselves in their homes. Inside, more soldiers patrolled the hallways, always being alert to any monsters that might sneak inside. Gio himself was wandering around in the gardens. Normally, he would enjoy the beauty of the flower beds and the neatly trimmed bushes, but with how dark the sky was now, he couldn’t help but to be on edge all the time. His instinct as a swordsman told him how any time now, the enemy would come. And he must be really to strike the moment they appeared.

 

And sure enough, he was right.

 

An arrow flew right past him, nearly grazed his right cheeks. He had dodged the attack without even knowing it was coming, just by pure reflex.

 

“A surprise attack. It would take more than that to take my down, I assure you,” he announced.

 

He looked around to see who had just shot him. No one was there. They didn’t reply either.

 

Another arrow. This time, he split it in half with his sword before it could reach him.

 

“Come on now. This is child’s play for me,” he said as he twirled his mustache. “If you’re not going to come out, then I suppose I’ll be the one to go there instead.”

 

And in a flash, he disappeared.

 

* * *

 

Primera had sneaked into the city as the soldiers were busy handling the others. Unlike the others who were more obvious in their efforts to raise chaos, she instead preferred her method of sniping and ambushing any stray soldiers. She was a werewolf-half elf hybrid, so she could ambush a person like a werewolf would or sniping them from afar like an elf could. Before she was transformed into a monster, she was one of the heroes of Lescatie and she was an expert at hiding on trees and bushes and sniping the enemy from afar. Her accuracy with the bow was second to none. With her transformation, her weakness of melee combat was nullified as she was granted the strength of a werewolf.

 

As she went around the city paralyzing so many soldiers in her wake. No killing as usual, just injecting demonic energy into them like a poison. It would overwhelm them and make them lose their clear thoughts, directing all of it into the pursuit of pleasure. If there were only men amongst the victims, then they would be paralyzed as they would have to, ah, “pleasure” themselves on their own. But if there was a female present, well, she made sure to fire her shots to the females too just so they would really enjoy their consensual sex together.

 

At least, that was the plan. For some reason, they had become much more resistant to her poison than they should be. One wound should be enough to bring down any healthy male and female yet she had to strike them multiple times just for it to start having any effect. From what she saw, the moment their desires started to overwhelm them, they would swallow the pills they had been carrying in their pockets, and those pills would cancel the effects. Could this be the drugs created by their so-called alchemy? She never knew the Order having such drugs in their arsenal back when she was still amongst their ranks.

 

In the end, she had to attack them multiple times continuously so that their protection would be overwhelmed.

 

It was all worth it though. She loved the sight of two lovers making out in absolute pleasure. Naturally, the females she converted all became werewolves so they would all become the dominant one in their intercourse. She also loved the lewd scene of a man furiously self-pleasuring himself. If she hadn’t had a husband, she would love to “assist” with their pleasure for sure.

 

Eventually, her feet carried her to the castle. She decided to sneak in from the back, where she stumbled upon Gio who was doing his walk.

 

_ Hmm? He looked different than the other soldiers. He’s pretty good-looking, even though he seems to be quite old already. For a man to age gracefully like that, he must have been continuously training himself through his youth. _

 

For a monster, the physical looks of their mate didn’t really matter as the process of incubization would eventually change said looks into their ideal one. If an old man got jumped by an ushi-oni for example, he would eventually be turned into a cute young boy just as the ushi-oni would want.

 

She could tell that a lot of monsters would definitely be keen of getting it on with this old man.

 

And then, she started his attack, opening up with firing an arrow of her hiding place up on the trees.

 

Only for him to dodge it.

 

_ What?! I was sure I didn’t botch my shot! So how did he-- _

 

She fired again, ignoring his taunt. This time, he actually managed to split her arrow into two.

 

Now she knew who she was dealing with.

 

_ He must be a warrior from Arland! _

 

She had been warned that Arland had some really strong warriors on their side. And this man must be one of them for sure. In retrospect, she should’ve already suspected it just from his clothes. He wasn’t wearing armor like the other soldiers. And he wore a coat as well, a common attire for heroes.

 

And suddenly, the man disappeared.

 

_ W-what? Where? _

 

Before she could find again, she suddenly felt the tree she was crouching on moving. She quickly responded by jumping down, landing gracefully to the ground behind her. She saw the tree she had been hiding in had been cut down. The perpetrator? Why, that man, of course. He just stood there beside the tree, his cane-sword back in its sheath. He was looking at her with curiosity.

 

“So, you’re the monster that has decided to come here. I guess you come here for the king?”

 

Primera merely snarled at him in response. She had been outed. So now, she would have to fight with her werewolf half. As a swordsman, he would no doubt try to close the distance. And with his speed, she couldn’t hope to run away from him.

 

She readied her claws, taking a four feet stance just like how a wolf would attack its prey. Her tail was raised up high, tense with the expectation of combat.

 

“Hmm, so you’re not the type that talks much. Very well. I shall accept your challenge.”

 

Primera launched herself right towards the swordsman; claws aiming right towards his jugular. She accelerated into a blinding speed in just a fraction of a second, aided by her extra strong back legs muscles. Any ordinary swordsman would no doubt be taken off guard by her sudden burst of agility.

 

Unfortunately for her, he was no ordinary swordsman.

 

The old man vanished just before her claws could land, And before she knew it, she felt blinding pain on her side.

 

“W-what...w-what just--”

 

The moment she landed, she immediately turned around. The old man was there, looking straight at her as he played with his beard.

 

“You’re fast, but not fast enough. I’d say you’re as fast as my bodyguard.”

 

_ This human! He’s mocking me! _

 

“Leave. You’re no match for me. That blow shouldn’t be fatal, especially with your capability of regeneration.”

 

Primera could feel her blood trickling down from her wound, dripping down to the dark soil below. She pressed her left arm towards it, and using her magic, she stopped the blood and closed the wound. When she was finished, it was as if she was never wounded at all.

 

“Very impressive. So the tales about your kind’s amazing endurance were true,” the old man continued. “But still, no matter how much you try, you would never win. So don’t throw your life away and leave. I have no interest in fighting a weak monster like you.”

 

Primera’s knuckles shook hearing his words. It was clear as day just how much he looked down on her. But the worst part was that he was right. Primera knew she was outclassed. Even with her werewolf strength, she was still no match against him.

 

She had to retreat.

 

And so, still facing towards the man just so he couldn’t make any surprise attacks from her back, she leaped backwards, before sprinting away as fast as she could away from him.

 

He didn’t give chase. The direction she was running towards was away from the castle and his task was to guard this place. He had left the outside to Esty and the others.

 

And besides, even though she was a monster with claws and paws, she still had a human body. And he had heard about how some of the monsters were former humans forced to be transformed into them. He had no joy to vanquish an opponent like that, especially when they were clearly inferior to him.

 

“If only that woman was a little bit faster with her project, then we wouldn’t be in this pickle. Then again, I could also blame the monsters for deciding to attack just when she was about to finish.”

 

“Hmm, I wonder… could they know about the project so that they tried to stop it?”

 

“Well, they were too late to do that. The project was never been worked on here in the first place. Her instincts were correct to do it back in the safety of Arland. Even if we were all to fall today, only she had the dimensional gate so the monsters could never reach her project before it’s complete.”

 

His monologue was suddenly interrupted by the sound of explosion coming from nearby.

 

_ It’s coming from the front gate! _

 

He quickly sprinted towards where the sound came as fast as he could.

 

* * *

 

_ Aaah, I want to hurry up and be with darling! _

 

Those were the thoughts that dominated the succubus’ head as she made her way towards the castle.

 

Wilmarina Noscrim, the Fallen Hero, strolled around the streets of the kingdom as if it had already belonged to her kind. She was as deadly as she was attractive, with full hips and voluptuous bosoms that her skimpy outfit wasn’t shy of showing. Shame was rarely part of a monster girl’s encyclopedia, especially when said monster belonged to a species that thrived in using their sex appeal to get what they wanted.

 

Many soldiers tried to stop her but not even one of them could land a scratch on her. If not for the drugs that killed their libido, they wouldn’t have been able to attack her in the first place. Thanks to the effect of her charm aura, one sight of her erotic body, and they would’ve been consumed with desire. At first, Wilmarina was surprised her charm had no effect on them. But she soon remembered about the alchemists, and how this was just another one of their handiwork.

 

It didn’t matter. None of them were strong enough to even threaten her in the slightest.

 

And so her thoughts returned back to her darling.

 

_ Oh, El. It was so unfair that you had to go with that baphomet. _

 

_ But I suppose you would be safer with her, with us drawing all the attention away from your location. _

 

_ And it would be unfair to the others if I monopolize you for myself. _

 

_ Aaah, but still, I want to hug you, kiss you, and smother you with my love, darling! _

 

Wilmarina’s monsterization just enhanced her already passionate love for El even more. Amongst all his wives, he had the most history with him, being his childhood friend and all. And even from those days, she already fell in love with him.

 

And now, as a monster, her entire purpose was devoted solely to him and him alone. She would lavish him in love and happiness for as long as she lived. She only participated in this invasion because he said he wanted to help Druella. Druella was her benefactor, of that she very well knew. But El was her darling husband, and he had priority over everything else.

 

It didn’t take long until she arrived at the front gate of the castle. Dozens of soldiers stood in front of her gate with their spears and shields while ones wielding firearms and cannons stood above the walls.

 

Sure, she could’ve tried to enter the castle in a less… provocative manner, but their task was mainly to draw attention of the Arlandians. And surely, one or two of them would be stationed here guarding this nation’s king.

 

Guns were shot and cannons were fired, with two of the cannons firing off a pair of massive energy beams towards her direction.

 

When the dust settled, to the soldier’s horror, the succubus still stood there, without a scratch on her body.

 

The barrier she had erected had absorbed all the destructive energy heading her way.

 

As the strongest hero Lescatie ever had, her abilities had become even stronger after she got turned into a succubus.

 

She had to admit though, those energy beams packed quite a punch.

 

With a smirk, she leaped forward and started the slaughter.

 

Or else, that’s what she would have done if not for a figure jumping straight to the middle of her flight path, blocking the swing of her sword with his own.

 

“Hmph, another one. I guess it would be logical to expect the enemy to aim for the castle,”

 

She quickly retreated, as she realized the man possessed a strength that could rival her own, as she tried pushing her blade down only for him to respond back with equal force.

 

As she landed in the ground, so did the figure. And now she got a good look at her opponent.

 

She could tell straight away that he was an Arlandian.


	18. Chapter 18

As chaos and darkness spread through the kingdom, two figures were rushing through the fields unhindered; their eyes set solely to their sole destination. The girl’s hooves and the man’s feet weren’t touching the ground in the slightest, with only the short grass tickling them, as they floated, not ran, to where they wanted to go. For them, who possessed the magic of monsters, it was an easy thing to do. They had to reach their destination as fast as they could after all, for every second that passed by, the chance of their enemies figuring out their true objective increased.

 

They had to succeed. They had to save their benefactor.

 

“Huff, huff, huff, is it still far?” the man said. The journey clearly had taken its toll from him. Even though he floated, not ran, floating, especially at that speed for such a long time, would take quite the energy.

 

“We should be closing on it,” the girl replied. “There, inside that forest ahead. Also, take in the demonic energy in the air. That should restore your strength.”

 

The monster girl on the other hand didn't look tired in the slightest. It was a good example on just how much more experienced she was in being a monster, as the man only became one recently while she was one all the way from her birth.

 

“A-ah, r-right… Demonic energy in the air…”

 

The man took in a deep breath. For monsters, air infested by demonic energy tasted much fresher than ordinary air. On the other hand, for non-monsters, the air would feel quite suffocating indeed.

 

The first deep breath he took in, he felt a rush of energy entering his body. It also increased his libido as well, as you would expect. He gulped as he saw the baphomet girl in front of him. Just like nearly any other monsters, her dress left little to the imagination. Her body was that of a little girl, but it just made her exude the charm of a little girl.

 

_ N-no! This is not the time to have such thoughts! _

 

The youth quickly refocused himself on his goal.  He couldn’t let his mind wander. They were in enemy territory after all.

 

* * *

 

Soon, the two entered the forest. They easily paved their way through the branches and bushes with their demonic strength. It didn’t take long at all until they arrived at their destination.

 

The building was pure white, with no windows and only a single metal door hiding the entrance. It stood up like a sore thumb in the middle of the green forest. There weren’t any guards around, which certainly was odd. You’d think a prison for one of the Demon Lord’s daughters would be heavily guarded.

 

“I guess they didn’t expect anyone to be here in the first place,” the baphomet commented.

 

She signalled to the youth that the coast was clear. She then went to the metal doors and punched them with her fist. To her surprise however, the door didn’t fall off its hinge, even though it opened just fine. Her fist still left a mark on the door, but to her surprise, the metal immediately wiggled as if it was a living clay and it fixed itself into its original shape, leaving no sign of her assault whatsoever.

 

“Hmm, magic steel… Must be the work of those alchemist…” the baphomet mumbled. “Sturdier than ordinary metal for sure. Still, no match for a baphomet’s strength.”

 

She then entered the place, followed by the youth who made sure to stay close right behind her.

 

* * *

 

The passage inside was dark. Completely dark. It was no trouble at all with their demon sight, but she wondered if there was a mechanism of sorts to turn on the lights. Humans couldn’t function properly in the dark after all.

 

The passage immediately slanted downwards, thus making the whole building above ground just a mere entrance. The facility’s innard was actually located below ground, dug beneath the soil.

 

Ordinary humans could never have built something like this, she thought. This must be built using the knowledge and tools of the alchemists.

 

Soon, the two stopped in front of another large metal door. This time it was even larger than the one on the entrance; its size easily around ten times larger than a normal door.

 

“Here we are. Lady Druella should be kept behind this door.”

 

The youth gulped nervously. Knowing how weak her demonic energy had gotten, who knew in what state they would find her.

 

The baphomet put both of her hands on the surface of the metal gates. She started chanting, and red lines began to spread all around the gate from her hands. Once they had covered all of the gate, the baphomet removed her hands and snapped her fingers. Immediately, the metal gates melted, opening the way into the room.

 

“Lady Druella!”

 

The baphomet rushed into the room once the gate had melted off completely. There, she found the succubus she had been looking for, chained and raised in the middle of the room. She could see just how horrible the state she was in. She clearly hadn’t been given any water or food. And her horns and tail were cut, leaving only stumps in their place. She was unconscious, and her energy was declining every second she was being put up there.

 

“Those Arlandian bastards! How could they do this to her?” the youth shouted in anger. “Not only they had kept her in such a horrible condition but they even cut her horns and tail just for the hell of it!”

 

“You shouldn’t be surprised,” the baphomet responded, her own voice shaking with anger as well. “This is what the Order likes to do to captured monsters. Torturing them before publicly executing them. We’re lucky they delayed her execution date for so long. To the Order, we monsters are merely evil beings to be vanquished. Torturing monsters won’t even register in their conscience.”

 

The baphomet leaped towards the chained succubus and cut all the chains in one move. She caught her before she could fall to the floor, carrying her in her arms.

 

“Oh Lady Druella… Do not worry, we’ll get you out of here…” she said as she looked at the succubus’ serene sleeping face.

 

“U-uurrrghh…”

 

Suddenly, the succubus stirred, slowly opening her eyes. It was as if she knew she just had been rescued.

 

“Y-you… Lucella? W-why are you…”

 

“Shhhh, save your breath, Milady. As you would certainly have surmised, I came here to rescue you. Well, I and Elt, that is.” the baphomet replied with a smile of relief. Her Lady was still strong enough to stay conscious. 

 

“E-Elt? Elt is here too?”

 

The succubus turned her head. Indeed, that man was here as well, and he looked as relieved as the baphomet.

 

Then, she remembered. Something that accursed alchemist had told her when she first was carried here.

 

“R-run…”

 

“...Pardon me, Milady?”

 

“R-run, I told you! It’s a trap! This place will explode if I was ever removed from my chains!”

 

“W-what? Explode?!”

 

“They also have made me swallow a miniature bomb that would explode as well! So you must leave me behind!”

 

“N-no! We will not leave you behind, Milady! I’ll corrupt the bomb inside you and then--”

 

Before she could finish her sentence, a blinding light enveloped the room.

 

* * *

 

The bombs went off, just like Astrid had designed.

 

Or, in this case, it was just one bomb. It was Astrid’s version of the Peacemaker Meruru had used.

 

The explosion was mostly contained by the ground, so it only left a deep blast crater where the building once stood.

 

This was why there weren’t any guards. They could get caught in the blast after all.

 

Miraculously however, the two survived the bomb.

 

In a split second before the bomb activated, Elt leaped to Lucella, hugged her, and activated his demonic shield with all his might. He would’ve protected Druella too if not for the fact that the succubus had forcibly separated herself from Lucella, knowing that she would explode as well. And she wouldn’t want to bring her subordinate to the afterlife with her.

 

And indeed she did. The explosion was smaller than the one from the facility, but it was enough to completely turn her form into ash. The bomb she had swallowed was Astrid’s version of the N/A Bomb.

 

As the big explosion swallowed them both, Lucella gave all her power to Elt’s shield, knowing that he alone couldn’t handle such an explosion. She knew one thing or two about bombs and explosives in general, but she never knew an explosion with such power and strength.

 

And when the dust settled, Elt had fallen unconscious. Only Lucella stayed conscious, but both had severe wounds on their body thanks to the explosion.

 

She couldn’t believe it. Just when they were so close to rescuing her, the Arlandians had to have the last laugh.

 

She looked around frantically, desperately trying to find any signs of the succubus.

 

Nothing. There was nothing at all. Not even any remains of her body.

 

She left Elt behind and looked again. And again. And again.

 

Still nothing.

 

Her whole body shook as the realization dawned on her.

 

She had failed. Lady Druella was gone for good.

 

And thus, the baphomet cried.

 

“My, my, I didn’t expect you guys to come this fast. Right when I was gone too. Coincidence, or do we have spies amongst our midst?”

 

Lucella stopped her tears. She turned around, and at the distance, a human stood.

 

“Y-you!”

 

“Aaw, the little goat’s been crying,” the human said in a mocking tone. “It’s too bad you’re not smart enough to save your master. Well, no one’s smart enough to fight against a genius like me.”

 

Behind her there were three other people. But judging by their sharp ears, they were most likely not of the same race as her. Elves, she thought?

 

The bespectacled human woman was wearing a light grey coat, with black underclothes, gloves, and pantyhose. She wore a pair of tall brown boots as well.

 

The other three dressed more fancily however. The sole male on the group wore a black top hat, along with a long black coat. He wore shorts instead of trousers however, contrasting his overall posh appearance. The female one on the other hand wore a white bonnet and a black dress that ended above her knees, showing her white long socks. Her bluish silver hair was done in a twin swirly ponytail and she had a red ribbon decorating her neck. The two looked to be a pair of sorts.

 

The other female however looked quite different. She looked more adult and mature than the other two, with a full bust unlike the other’s flat chest. She wore a dress similar in style to the other girl, but it covered her feet all the way to her ankles.

 

The most striking part about her, however, was how her facial structure looked eerily reminiscent to Druella’s own. Her crimson red eyes and long sharp ears certainly didn’t help, although the other two had those as well. And unlike the other two, her hair was pure silver, and it was let down freely.

 

She didn’t have the usual lewd expressions of the succubus however. She just stared blankly towards Lucella, along with the other two.

 

Her similarity to Druella didn’t escape Lucella’s notice. But she thought it was just her imagination. Druella was dead. There was no way she could be Druella. Besides, she didn’t have wings or tails like Druella should have.

 

“What’s the matter? Shocked that I am here standing before you? Well, unluckily for you, I finished my project a little bit earlier than scheduled so I got here a little bit faster. And to my surprise, everything has gone to the gutter when I was gone.”

 

Lucella had no idea who this woman and her entourage were. But judging from her speech, it was clear that she was with the Arlandians.

 

And that was enough to ignite the rage in her heart.

 

“You… you’re one of the Arlandians, aren’t you?”

 

“Indeed. Astrid Zexis, at your service. And before you ask, yes, I did it all. I was the one who built this facility. I was the one who captured your dear Druella. I was the one who kept her chained. I was the one who cut her horns and tails. I was the one who rigged the place with a bomb. And of course, I too was the one who made her swallow a bomb.”

 

The woman said it all with no remorse whatsoever in her expression. Instead, her expression was one of pure amusement. She was curious, curious how this little goat in front of her would react.

 

Naturally, Lucella was furious.

 

With her failing to save Druella, all that remained was to get her revenge upon those who had harmed and killed her mistress.

 

She wouldn’t even turn them to monsters. She would kill them. Tore them apart into little pieces.

 

Her monster nature had surfaced, overwhelming the imprinted loving personality the Demon Lord had given her.

 

She would have launched herself towards Astrid right away, if not for the fact that she was still terribly wounded from the explosion.

 

But it wouldn’t be for long.

 

Lucella closed her eyes and she began gathering all the demonic energy in the air. She used it to heal herself from her wounds.

 

Astrid could’ve easily interfered with the process but she decided not to. Her scholarly curiosity won over.

 

Besides, there was no way even at her full strength, that this little goat would win over her.

 

And it was the perfect opportunity to test the power of her new homunculus.


	19. Chapter 19

“Come down here, Lilihom.”

 

The mature-looking one immediately jumped down to inside the crater, landing right beside Astrid.

 

“Yes, Master?”

 

“Show that goat monster your power.”

 

“Your wish is my command, Master,”

 

The girl turned towards Lucella, staring at her with a perfectly calm gaze. 

 

_ W-what? This couldn't be! She--her face looks just like Milady! _

 

Now that the newcomer stood closer to her, Lucella finally accepted the fact that she looked so terribly similar to Druella. Sure, her expression was a blank, serious one instead of the usual haughty and sensual one her Lady always wore. But those facial structures, skin color, and eye color; they all looked like hers. Even her breast size looked to be the same.

 

“Surprised?” Astrid said with a smirk. “I suppose I should explain what she is before you two have a fight. She's a homonculus created by yours truly using the body parts I extracted from your master.”

 

“A-a homunculus?” Lucella replied in disbelief.

 

“Artificial life created by alchemy. And she will obey everything that I tell her to do. Isn't that right, Lilihom?”

 

“Yes. Lilihom exists only to serve you, Master,” the homunculus replied, still as monotonous as ever.

 

Lucella’s gaze  _ drilled  _ into the homunculus, her eyes wide open in disbelief and anger on what she was seeing.

 

It was not enough that they took Druella away from her, tortured her, and then killed her in such a gruesome manner.

 

Now, this, this  _ demon  _ had created a replica of her to be her slave, as if she wanted to mock her even further.

 

It was enough to make her snap.

 

“YOU! YOU MONSTER!”

 

Lucella  _ leaped _ straight towards Astrid, her claws drawn.

 

She would  _ kill _ this human, even if it cost her life.

 

“Lilihom, intercept her attack.”

 

“As you wish, Master.”

 

The homunculus jumped to the path, and before Lucella’s claws could scratch Astrid, she grabbed both of her arms, stopping her movement in an instant.

 

“You shall not harm Master,” the homunculus spoke.

 

“W-what? Her strength--I-I can’t escape!”

 

Tried as she might, Lucella couldn’t free her hands from her strong grip, which was inconceivable to her as a baphomet possessed a vast physical strength than not many other monsters could compete against.

 

“Oh, I forgot to say one thing,” Astrid said with a smirk, still standing as calm as ever. “This girl isn’t just based on that succubus. You are familiar with how a Lilim possesses the demonic energy of all the monsters in the world in their body, correct?”

 

“S-so what?!” Lucella replied in anger, as she continued her struggle to release herself from the homunculus.

 

“So, I could use her demonic energy to analyze every other monster’s demonic energy. And with that knowledge…”

 

As if on cue, the homunculus bit into Lucella’s shoulders, making the monster let out a scream of pain in return.

 

_ T-this jaw strength… i-it’s like a dragon’s! And since when she had these sharp fangs in her! I didn’t see any fangs in her mouth before! There were only your normal, run-of-the-mill teeth! _

 

“I gave her the strength of many different monsters as well; the ability to morph her body parts into theirs at will. This wouldn’t be possible without the hyper mutagenic property of your so-called demonic energy by the way so I have to thank you monsterkind for giving me such an interesting phenomenon to play with.

 

_ S-she’s using demonic energy? Yet she’s not corrupted? H-how? _

 

“Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘Why is this homunculus not corrupted by the demonic energy inside her body’? Well, the answer to that is simple, little goat. It’s not demonic energy at all.”

 

“N-not demonic energy? T-then how--”

 

Suddenly, the monster girl felt  _ something _ entering her body from where the homunculus was biting her. It began  _ gnawing _ and  _ chewing _ at her demonic energy, absorbing it and replacing it with its own.

 

“True. It has nearly all the properties of one. However, if demonic energy is all linked to the demon lord, this custom made energy of mine is linked to this homunculus of mine. Do not worry though. A homunculus is a blank slate, so she wouldn’t influence your mind the same way the demon lord does. So why don’t you just relax and let her do her job? Maybe you’ll calm down a little once you’re freed from the demon lord’s influence.”

 

_ As if I’ll ever buy that! _

 

Lucella jumped and kicked the homunculus right on her stomach with her hooves. The impact was strong enough to dislodge both of her arms and her teeth away from her, throwing the homunculus a few meters away to the ground. Quickly, Lucella put some distance away. Now she knew that her enemy wasn’t just the alchemist. This so-called homunculus would give her some trouble as well.

 

“Hey, that isn’t very nice,” Astrid spoke. “You should be more respectful to the future demon lord, you know.”

 

“Future… demon lord?”

 

“Yes. After we’re done with you and your invasion, we’ll be coming over straight to her place and depose her of her title. You see, Lilihom here could access the demonic energy network as well. Unfortunately, she couldn’t spread her own special demonic energy all over monsterkind as long as the current demon lord is still alive and kicking. And so, just like many other demon lords had did in the past, we will bring her down and reinstate Lilihom as the new demon lord.”

 

Lucella looked back towards the homunculus.  _ “This girl--she’s going to be the new demon lord? And she’ll spread her own brand of demonic energy to every monster out there?” _

 

She looked back at Astrid, who was still having a lot of fun watching her flabbergasted reactions.

 

_ Then it would be the end of us monsterkind. Every monster would be controlled by this girl, and thus, this alchemist. _

 

“I will never let that happen!” Lucella shouted in response. “Lady Druella fought for the happiness and freedom for both humans and monsters; freedom from the thralls of the Chief God! And I would never let another tyrant like you to take away our freedom as well!”

 

“I see…” Astrid replied with a terribly acted hurt expression. “So that’s how you view me. You wound me, little goat. I’m no tyrant. I’m just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill genius alchemist, that’s all.”

 

“Shut up! I’ve had enough of your lies!”

 

Lucella jumped high up into the air, lifting her arms upwards as she gathered a black ball of swirling demonic energy above her.

 

“Lilihom, counter that move with your own.”

 

“Yes, Master,”

 

Lilihom, who had recovered from the blow she received, stood in front of Astrid as well. She lifted her arms, aiming it towards Lucella. And then, she opened her mouth widely before sucking in all the demonic energy around her. Just like how a monster could feed on spirit energy, so could she feed on demonic energy, converting it to her own special energy. And then, she began creating her own sphere of energy, only it was colored purple and it crackled instead of swirled.

 

Lucella threw her sphere first, aiming it right towards the homunculus. The hom responded by releasing her own sphere, and the two spheres clashed mid-air. Their energies cancelled each other, resulting in a draw.

 

“Hmm, still nowhere near maximum capacity,” Astrid mumbled to herself. “Guess she still needed to swallow a lot more demonic energy into her.”

 

Lucella put some more distance between them after realizing her attack had failed. And in doing that, she accidentally landed beside her still unconscious partner.

 

_...Damn, that’s right. I had forgotten about him. I couldn’t go all out while he’s still laying down here. And there’s always a chance they would take him as a hostage… _

 

_...I have no choice. As much as I hate it, I have to retreat for now. I need to regroup with the others. _

 

Lucella then grabbed the unconscious man’s arm before leaped upwards in incredible speed, boosted by her movement magic.

 

“Oh, running away, are we?” Astrid said with a satisfied smirk. “Lilihom, switch to Dragon Mode. We’ll chase after them.”

 

“Yes, Master,” the homunculus replied. A pair of white dragon wings and a dragon tail suddenly popped out of her body. Thankfully, her dress had an open back design at the back while the tail came out from right above her undergarments so she didn’t damage her clothes by doing so. Astrid had made sure to that.

 

“You two,” Astrid ordered the other two homunculus who had stayed away from the fight. “Go meet Rorona and the others. See if you can help them.”

 

“Yes, Master,” the pair replied in a synchronized manner.

 

Astrid then climbed up to her back before she took off in a flight. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable way to travel but it had to do for now.

 

Lucella looked behind her and saw the alchemist-homunculus pair flying straight towards them.

 

_ Now a dragon. Can she really transform into any monster? _

 

Lucella aimed her left hand towards the homunculus, firing off a straight beam of demonic energy towards her. When the girl dodged it, she fired off some more in a rapid successive fashion. However, not a single one landed, as the girl continued to dodge all of it, even doing multiple somersaults in the process.

 

_ Tch, this girl is fast! _

 

And then, she saw the alchemist riding on the dragon girl’s back raising her right arm to the skies. A beam of light leaped out from her hand, but instead of going towards the baphomet, it instead went towards the skies above in front of her.

 

_ What the-- _

 

Before she could think anymore, another beam of light suddenly fired off from the sky; its trajectory heading straight towards her. She quickly responded by erecting her barrier. It managed to absorb the blow, but she could tell just how powerful the beam of light was. It was some high-ranking magic for sure.

 

“U-urgh…”

 

Suddenly, the young man she had been carrying stirred. He finally regained consciousness at last.

 

“W-what? W-what happened? W-where...where are...w-why are we flying?!”

 

“Stay put, Elt. We’re being chased by the Arlandians. We’re now going to regroup with the others,” Lucella explained matter-of-factly.

 

“T-The Arlandians?!”

 

Elt looked behind him and saw a girl with dragon wings and tail chasing after them, with a bespectacled woman clinging on top of her.

 

“A-a dragon? I thought the Arlandians didn’t have any monsters on their side!”

 

“They’ve created their own. They called her Lilihom and apparently she’s a homunculus, an artificial life created by their alchemy.”

 

“I-I see…”

 

He had known how alchemy could apparently create all sorts of magical things that even their best crafters and enhancers couldn’t produce. But to think that it could also create another living being like this…

 

He looked back towards the homunculus girl. Her expression was oddly enough, blank. She might have the face of Druella but her expressions were nothing like her.

 

“O-oh, that’s right. What happened to Lady Druella?”

 

There was a pause from the baphomet.

 

“...She didn’t make it. The bomb the Arlandians had planted inside her eradicated her.”

 

“Oh…”

 

Elt felt empty all of a sudden. His heart ached terribly. They had staged this invasion in an effort to rescue her. Yet in the end, they still failed to do so.

 

“If you want to be angry, then be angry at the bespectacled woman back there. She was the one who planted the bomb inside Milady,” Lucella added, the bitterness clear in her voice.

 

Elt looked back once more. Sure enough, the bespectacled lady was still there. And unlike the homunculus, her expression was one of excitement and smugness mixed into one. It was as if she was a hunter hunting her prey.

 

Anger flared in his heart. He never was one to be violent to a woman, but to that woman, he felt like he wanted to punch her just to knock out that smugness from her.

 

“...Why are we running away, Lucella?” Elt asked the baphomet, his voice tinted with anger. “We should be fighting them!”

 

“Well, you got knocked out and I couldn’t risk fighting them on my own, especially since I know the bespectacled woman was the kind of person who wouldn’t mind doing something underhanded like taking you hostage to gain the upper hand,” the baphomet explained.

 

“Then, we should be able to fight them now, right? I can fly too, you know.”

 

The baphomet stopped to think for a second before answering.

 

“Alright. If you’re feeling well enough, then we can try fighting them. But don’t overdo it. Those two are tough. The homunculus could turn into various monsters at will and who knew what kind of magical items the alchemist had?”

 

“The alchemist? You mean the bespectacled woman?”

 

“Yes. She’s the one named Astrid.”

 

“Then, I’ll be the one to take her down. You fight the homunculus girl.”

 

It was clear from his voice that he intended to avenge Druella.

 

Lucella, however, disagreed.

 

“No, you fight the homunculus girl. Or, to be more accurate, convince her to join our side,” the baphomet said with a naughty smile. “You’re quite good with woman, aren’t you? Teach her the wonderful and passionate world of us monsters. I believe she was just a newborn and she was designed to be only obedient to her creator. I felt pity for her really, to be created just to become a slave.”

 

“Really? That’s horrible!” Elt replied. “To think that someone could be that callous-- _ But then again, she did put a bomb inside Lady Druella as well as torturing her _ \--I don’t know anything about alchemy but if you create a life, that’s the same thing as being said life’s parents. And what kind of a parent you are if you just want to use your child as a slave? That’s just not right!”

 

Lucella smiled hearing that. As usual, Elt was a kind man. No wonder so many women fell for him. Amongst other humans brainwashed by the Order’s biased teachings, or their own society’s corrupt values, he was the only one with a pure and unsullied moral compass.

 

“Alright then. I’ll try to convince her to join our side,” Elt replied. “You take care of the alchemist.”

 

“Be careful though. She has her own version of demonic energy that she can transfer into you by touch. Get too much of it and she would transform you into another loyal slave of the alchemist. She can also devour our demonic energy and process it into her own.”

 

“That doesn’t sound good…” Elt commented. “But don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll be able to get through her somehow!” 

 

He gave one of his usual optimistic smile to Lucella, in which the baphomet replied with her own.

 

“Alright. Now, at the count of three, I will release you from my grip. And we will immediately turn around and attack the alchemist and her mount. With any luck, we can gain the advantage by taking them off-guard.”

 

“Got it!”

 

“In three...two...one… go!”

 

The two immediately split off into their own; Lucella taking the left and Elt taking the right. Both made a sharp U-turn towards Astrid and Lilihom, with Lucella firing off a barrage of dark energy as the pair approached. Lilihom managed to dodge all of them just like before however.

 

“Hmm, finally deciding to attack, huh? Alright, Lilihom, do your own thing. I’ll drop off right here.” Astrid spoke.

 

“Take care, Master,”

 

To both Elt and Lucella’s surprise, Astrid released her grip on Lilihom, making her fall down from the dragon girl. They weren’t flying that high above the ground, but it was still high enough (not to mention fast enough) that falling from said height would certainly kill a person. But Astrid fell off intentionally, beyond all reason.

 

_ W-what? She fell off? I-is this a trick? _

 

Lucella dived down after her, while Elt faced off against the homunculus, who was now firing off a series of flames towards his location from her mouth. Elt was distracted by Astrid’s sudden fall, but thankfully, he managed to respond by cutting the flames before they could burn him, thanks to his own demonic energy and the special sword he possessed.

 

As Astrid fell, she took out a small vial of potion from one of her many coat pockets. Just as she was about to hit the ground, she drank the contents of said vial.

 

Crack! The loud sound of her leg bones shattering under the impact was transmitted all around her, as well as the noise of the landing itself.

 

She fell down to the earth as her legs failed to support her body. However, just a few seconds later, she stood back up, dusting the dirt out of her clothes.

 

“Bah, it’s still painful. And I thought I had put enough painkillers in it,” she said to herself.

 

Before she could really get her bearings however, Lucella attacked her from above; her hooves enveloped by her demonic energy for a stomp. Astrid quickly responded by summoning her giant book above her, blocking the attack from landing on her own body.

 

“Hmph, no mercy at all, huh?” Astrid spoke.

 

Meanwhile, up above, Elt and Lilihom were still facing off against each other. Elt was taking the defensive role, as Lilihom continued to barrage him with attacks over and over again. She even got close to him a couple of times, intending to swipe him with her claws or hit him with her tail. However, Elt had never attacked her back. Not even a single time. Even though he knew that his sword wouldn’t really kill and would just drain the strength of the victim while injecting them with demonic energy.

 

“Please, listen to me! We don’t have to fight!” Elt shouted to the homunculus after dodging another barrage of her flames.

 

“Master commanded me to fight. So I will,” the girl replied.

 

“But you’re not a puppet, right? You’re a living being! Surely you can see that I didn’t want to fight you!” Elt shouted back.

 

“I exist to serve Master. If I disobey Master, I would lose my reason to exist,” the homunculus replied flatly.

 

Elt was horrified to hear her replies. It reminded him of those knights back at Lescatie who would proclaim to their masters that they lived and died for them. When he was still human, he admired their loyalty. But when he transformed into a monster, his eyes were opened. Such a system should not exist in this world. He knew some of those knights, fellow soldiers and friends of his; all of them were good people. And yet, they would do bad things just because they were ordered too. They would slaughter peaceful monster villages without hesitation and they would even execute fellow knights that the higher-ups suspected to be monster sympathizers and spies.

 

And here we had this girl being frighteningly obedient to her creator as if she never had her own will in the first place.

 

Elt clenched her fists. He was now even more determined to save this girl from her horrible fate.

 

_ I guess I’ll have to use the sword after all. _

 

His sword had a special property to it. If it cut a female, it would also give them a massive amount of sexual pleasure to the point that they could orgasm on the spot. The sword was originally used as a playfighting sword with his wives after all. He would take the role of the brave hero while they would take the role of the monsters that he had to cut down.

 

Sexual play like that was a common thing amongst monsters, as they didn’t really share any of the taboos or shame human society had.

 

From his experience, and the stories of monsters who had converted human females, giving them pleasure would make them far more susceptible to their arguments in becoming monsters. Many female humans had terrible sex lives, if they had any at all. Sex was quite the taboo subject amongst Order followers, and you were supposed to only have sex for procreation, not for the pleasure of it. Doing it for the latter would have you branded as a pervert at best and a corrupted human at worst.

 

Elt raised his sword, waiting for the moment Lilihom would get close to him. Even though she now had the power of a dragon, Elt didn’t have that much trouble dodging or blocking her blows. He didn’t know whether that was because he had gotten much stronger from his human days, or it was because the homunculus was not really that strong as your usual dragons.

 

Then, he saw it. The homunculus doing her usual movements before charging towards him. After staying on the defense for quite some time, he noticed how her movements were quite easy to read, a sign of someone who hadn’t really gotten much combat experience. She really was a newborn.

 

_ There she goes! Now’s my chance! _

 

The homunculus charged towards him. He readied his blade. He aimed to cut her chest area, so that her breasts would be exposed to the world. He didn’t really like doing this kind of thing to a girl, but he also learned that making the female opponent to have an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction would have quite the impact on their performance in combat. It didn’t matter whether the female was just an ordinary soldier or one of the heroes chosen by the Chief God. They all reacted similarly.

 

She outstretched her claws. He dodged it and countered with a solid slash on her chest. She swung her tail in a follow-up attack but he managed to dodge that as well.

 

_ Bingo! _

 

He turned around, expecting to see an embarrassed and flustered homunculus in front of him.

 

To his befuddlement however, that was not what he saw.

 

The homunculus stood there with a slight confused look on her face, looking down towards her chest. The blow had indeed landed, and now both her dress and her corset underneath were cut right on the middle, exposing her breasts to the world.

 

“Sustaining damage. However, no fatal wounds received. Incursion of demonic energy detected. Amount still below the critical limit. Conversion of demonic energy successful.”

 

_ W-why? Why isn’t my sword working?! _

 

The homunculus wasn’t embarrassed at all with her current half-naked state. And she didn’t seem to receive any pleasure as well. How could this be, Elt shouted to himself. He could understand that the homunculus might not react with embarrassment as her mind was already brainwashed into focusing solely on her mission. But surely her hormones and urges would hit her. No matter how good one was at hiding it, she would at least have a flushed face in response.

 

Unbeknownst and unimaginable to him, Lilihom was simply not designed with the capability to receive sexual pleasure. Sure, her primary and secondary sexual organs were all still there but she would never feel something called “lust”. She couldn’t give birth like normal humans as well.

 

If he had known, perhaps it would add more to his distaste of the alchemist.

 

Luckily, Astrid was already used to be seen as an evil witch.

 

Speaking of the alchemist, back at the other fight on the ground, Astrid was clearly dominating over the baphomet.

 

As much as Lucella bombarded her with her elemental magics, her attacks just could not land properly on her.

 

After the alchemist used what looked like an egg of some sort, her speed increased dramatically. It was as if time itself was bending around her.

 

Not to mention even when one of her spells managed to graze her, she immediately healed her wounds by drinking one of her potions. She actually managed to escape a prison of her earth manipulation spell by exploding one of her bombs right beside her to destroy the wall and then healing the wounds by drinking said potion. For her to utilize a strategy like that, she must have full confidence and mastery of the radius and strength of her bomb and the healing capability of her potion. If the bomb had exploded in the wrong place and/or it had been stronger than she had expected, she could’ve died right then and there.

 

Her spies told her that she was the master of all the other alchemists. That fact certainly showed in this battle.

 

She would try to aim for her bag where she stored all of her things, but unfortunately, she wasn’t storing them in an easily snatched ordinary bag. She stored them all inside her magical book that could change size and pop in and out of existence with ease. And it’s far more durable than your ordinary book as her inferno spell merely singed it a little.

 

To make matters worse, she didn’t have to be the one to throw those explosives of hers. The book itself could appear above her and rain down some bombs on its own. Thankfully, she had her four elemental barriers activated, mitigating the damage greatly if she ever got caught off-guard by it.

 

One thing bothered her however. The alchemist wasn’t using that “light beam from the sky” attack against her.

 

Was that just a one time thing? Did she run out of whatever magical item she needed to use it?

 

But judging by the annoying smirk on her face, it seemed she was still absolutely confident of her chance of victory.

 

“You know, I expected more of someone who was supposedly the right hand of Druella.”

 

Suddenly, the alchemist spoke after dispelling another one of Lucella’s whirlwinds with her own.

 

“You do realize I haven’t really gone all out against you, have you? I’m limiting myself to merely using my elemental bombs, just because you seem stuck on your elemental magics,” she continued.

 

_ This woman! Even now, she’s not taking me seriously at all! _

 

“Fine! I’ll show you! I’ll show you something that would wipe that haughty smirk off your face!” Lucella replied in anger.

 

A magic pentagram instantly appeared below her feet as she started chanting her spell. It was not an offensive spell however. It was a supportive one, an ability enhancing spell that would boost all her physical abilities massively.

 

Indeed, she intended to bring the fight right up close and personal.

 

_ I should’ve done this in the first place. The way she fights, I can tell she’s weak at close combat. Can’t drop her bombs without harming herself after all. _

 

“Titan Strength!” she shouted the end of the spell’s incantation. She used nearly all the mana she had, knowing she could just replenish her reserve by the thick demonic energy all around her.

 

“Hmm? Judging by that name, I see you’ve decided to switch your strategy. Very well. Come over here, little goat,” Astrid said with a smile.

 

“As you wish!” Lucella replied back as she launched herself right towards the alchemist. Astrid quickly responded by dodging away but she quickly realized even with the effects of her Dimensional Egg active, she was still slower than the baphomet.

 

And so, she used her second time-manipulation tool.

 

She pulled out her Time Litograph, and timing it just before Lucella’s fist of fury could land, she activated it, stopping time for a few seconds. And she used this opportunity to ram her needleless syringe full of her special anti-monster poison right at the goat monster’s neck before running away from her once more.

 

When time resumed, Lucella stopped on her tracks, confused on how the alchemist had vanished from her sight.

 

And then, the poison’s effect began to take place.

 

_ W-what? W-what is this? I-I feel my energy draining all over a sudden…  _

 

“Well now, you just fell for the same thing as your master did when she came over,” Astrid said smugly, crossing her hands over her chest.

 

“T-the same thing? H-have you poisoned me?”

 

Lucella quickly manipulated the demonic energy inside her to convert the poison into a harmless substance and to heal any damage it might have incurred.

 

“It’s useless. It’s not some ordinary poison for humans that targeted their organs or blood. It targets your demonic energy right away. You know how demonic energy has the property of erosion that could convert other types of energy, or “mana”, if you want to be fancy about it, into its own? Well, I simply take that property and apply it in reverse. Now, my poison, which is basically a liquid form of spirit energy, would convert your demonic energy into spirit energy that you can’t really use as you’re a monster and all. So, you would eventually lose all your energy as you are left with nothing but unusable and unconvertable spirit energy,” Astrid explained gleefully.

 

“Y-you… So this is how you defeat Milady…” Lucille replied, her whole body visibly shaking.

 

“I have to admit though. This demonic energy of yours is a real piece of work. I couldn’t just throw it in a cauldron and use it for synthesis without it corrupting the whole process. I have to use specially prepared neutralizers and catalysts to tame it, so to speak. But eventually, it succumbed to the power of alchemy in the end and I could transfer its erosion property into other things, like that poison inside your body.”

 

“But really, I have to ask, how did your Demon Lord do it? From what I’ve learned, only the demonic energy in her reign had this property. And no other types of energy had it. So how did she come up with it? Was she some demonic energy researcher that modified her own body to have that type of mana before spreading it to all monsters with the Demon Lord system? It really is quite curious.”

 

Lucella didn’t listen to her ramblings however, as she focused herself to take in more demonic energy from her surroundings to replace the ones she lost in her own body. Thankfully for her, it seemed the poison’s speed of conversion was still less than the speed she could absorb more demonic energy.

 

And now she realized it was far too risky to get too close to the alchemist like that. She couldn’t afford to take more of her accursed poison into her body.

 

The last thing she saw before the alchemist vanished was her holding that stone tablet-looking thing. It must be the item that allowed her to do so. For her to vanish just like that while she suddenly got poisoned out of nowhere, her guess was it was something related to time.

 

_ A magical item that allows you to stop time? I don’t even know if there’s a spell to do that! _

 

“Alright, I think it’s time for me to kick it up a notch. Let’s see how you deal with a continuous barrage of flaming rocks from the sky.”

 

Before Lucella could react, Astrid took out a star-shaped object from her book and held it upwards with her right hand. The object immediately leaped upwards towards the clouds in blinding speed.

 

_ This is similar to how she started off that light beam from the sky attack of hers back then! _

 

Lucella quickly moved away from where she stood, which was the correct decision as a split second later, a searing mass of hot rock crashed into it. It wasn’t the only one however as a bunch of others came down as well, all aiming around the area where she stood. It wasn’t a simple thing to dodge them as they almost seemed to drop down randomly without necessarily aiming at the spot where she was. But with how they exploded when they hit the ground, she couldn’t afford to even be near them.

 

She tried running towards Astrid’s location, knowing she would stop the assault if she got near enough. But Astrid had ridden off with her flying carpet when she was not looking, putting a distance between her and the ground. And with the rocks coming from the skies, it would be tricky to get close to her.

 

Then she got an idea. There was no need for her to dodge. She could just tank the rocks as she still had her fire and physical walls on her. In fact, she could even kick back the rocks right at the alchemist! That should get her by surprise!

 

And so she executed the plan. She leaped into one of the incoming rocks and kicked it with all her strength. When it connected, sure enough, she could feel the impact nearly crushing her bones.

 

Unfortunately, the rock wasn’t that sturdy and it shattered in response. One of the shards still went towards Astrid however but she just blocked it by summoning her giant book in front of her.

 

_ Tch, that didn’t work! _

 

Lucella quickly retreated from the air as she had to dodge the next wave of incoming meteorites. However, as she landed, she suddenly felt a massive gravitational force pulling her backwards. She turned around and saw that there was now what looked like to be a black hole pulling in everything around it into it.

 

_ What in the-- Where did it come from?! _

 

She quickly ran towards the opposite direction to counter the gravitational force. However, it wasn’t that easy as the meteorites were still falling and she had to dodge them as well.

 

_ Grrr, she got me pinned down! _

 

It wasn’t over however. Astrid then used her Pinwheel to create a whirlwind to push the goat monster even more towards the black hole. This, combined with the meteorites, was enough to make Lucella screw up, allowing herself to be hit by one of the meteors. It took out her balance, and she immediately flew towards the black hole.

 

And just as you would expect, once she was in it, she was immediately crushed by the immense gravitational pull of the hole, making her scream in pain as she felt every atom of her body being pulled apart.

 

Thankfully for her, it wasn’t really a real deal black hole in a scientific sense, where every matter would be spaghettified without a doubt. When the black hole vanished, the baphomet was still alive, although with major wounds all over her body.

 

Armillary Sphere. A special kind of alchemical tool shaped like its namesake that could create a black hole upon activation.

 

Astrid had waited until Lucella decided to do an offensive like that before using it, wanting to catch her off-guard with it. She imagined the baphomet would never expect her to have something like it in her arsenal. She had decided that it was time for her to finish this fight, and this was her ace in the hole, so to speak. She couldn’t play around and waste her items too much after all. And she didn’t expect she would be able to inject another round of poison into the goat girl. So she would just have to wait until the perfect opportunity, and that opportunity was now.

 

She had expected the baphomet to succumb to the gravitational pull immediately but she surprisingly managed to recover just in time. Well, she just had to give her a little more push then.

 

And now, after the black hole majorly wounded her, the baphomet kneeled down as she tried to heal her wounds.

 

Just the perfect moment for her Magic Square.

 

Without hesitating or skipping a beat, Astrid used the same tool that fired off the light beam from the sky before. The beam hit the baphomet dead on as it arrived right after the black hole disappeared. 

 

Lucella could feel her life flashing between her eyes as the beam stroke her.

 

_ So, this is it… This is my end… _

 

Another beam fired off from the skies, hitting her once again.

 

_ I had failed… The alchemist has gotten the better of me… _

 

One more beam stroke her. Tried as she might, her regenerative capability could not keep up, and her barriers did nothing to block the beam.

 

She lifted her head, seeing how Astrid was still standing on top of her flying carpet above.

 

_ I am sorry, Lady Druella… I have failed to save you and now I have failed to avenge you as well. _

 

Yet another beam landed. It seemed Astrid had no intention of keeping Lucella alive.

 

_ Elt, please… run away and take the others with you. This opponent… we have to tell the others how dangerous they really are… _

 

The final beam landed, and it finally eviscerated the baphomet into nothingness, only leaving a large crater where she had stood.

 

Astrid flew back down, jumping off from her carpet. She investigated the crater, making sure that Lucella was really and truly dead.

 

“Yep, she’s gone all right. Didn’t think I would have to use that many Magic Square. Their resilience really is amazing,” she talked to herself.

 

“Sorry for killing you, little goat. Unlike my apprentices, I’m really quite the vengeful woman, you see. You and your master had caused a lot of trouble for us, and a lot of it are quite personal for me.”

 

“And besides, even if I were to take away the Demon Lord’s influence from you with Lilihom, I have a hunch that you still would want to avenge your mistress. I can sense that your devotion and love to her are the real deal.”

 

“Well, at least now you can go to whatever afterlife your master went to.”

 

Astrid turned around and looked towards the skies.

 

“I wonder how Lilihom is doing. I should go check on her.”

 

And so, the alchemist jumped onto the flying carpet once more, leaving all the craters and the scorched earth she had created in her battle below her.


	20. Chapter 20

The fight between Elt and Lilihom continued. Knowing that his sword wasn’t working at all put Elt at an even harder place. He continued to try to persuade Lilihom to disobey her master but it really was not working at all.

 

_ At this rate, I really would have to fight her for real! _

 

Elt was always a pacifist at heart. Even when he was still a human and part of the Order army, he would not kill any monsters that crossed his path. Unlike most of his comrades who thought of them as just abominations to be slaughtered in the name of the Chief God, he believed that they too deserve life just like humans did.

 

But now, here he faced an opponent that just wouldn’t back down no matter what. And his go-to persuasive tool had been proven ineffective.

 

_ I have no choice! I just have to knock her out! _

 

The redhead switched back to his offensive stance. Noticing that, Lilihom paused as she assessed the change in situation.

 

“Sensing a change in the opponent's combat stance. Adjusting combat strategy.”

 

Elt’s eyes couldn't help to linger at the homonculus's exposed bosoms. They were perfectly sculptured and shaped like a work of art. And they would bounce freely at every little movement she made.

 

Simply mesmerizing.

 

_ G-gah, what am I thinking? C-come on Elt, focus!  _

 

Lilihom tilted her head slightly. It seemed she had noticed Elt's reaction.

 

“Detecting increased heart rate from the enemy. Stare trajectory calculated to be towards the exposed chest area. A bulge in the enemy's pants sighted. Conclusion? The enemy is experiencing physical attraction towards self.”

 

Possessing the blood of a succubus made her able to catch and understand this kind of stuff easily. But it was all clinical. There was no desire or passion lying underneath. You might be able to have the most amazing intercourse with her but she wouldn't feel anything from it in the slightest. Her moans and cries of pleasure would all be fake, performed only to maximize the pleasure of the other party.

 

Hearing her words, Elt blushed and quickly covered his bulge with his hand. Even after his sex-filled life with his many wives, he still kept his somewhat bashful personality from when he was human. This of course just made him even more attractive to his more proactive partners.

 

Suddenly, the homunculus charged towards Elt, her dragon claws at the ready. It took him with surprise, but he quickly recovered, and he responded by charging towards her as well. He switched his sword’s ability towards energy drain. If he couldn't reason with her, then he would just knock her out.

 

The two clashed; the homunculus’ claws grabbing the blade. As she felt her strength being drained, she quickly retaliated by breathing fire out of her mouth towards Elt. The incubus saw it coming however thus he managed to dodge just in the nick of time. She wasn't finished however. She charged forward and swung her tail at him. And this time, the blow landed. It sent him spiraling downwards.

 

She still wasn't finished. She dived downwards sharply, then spun her body around to land a powerful twin kick by her feet.

 

Elt however managed to recover, sidestepping the attack while grabbing her legs with the entirety of his body.

 

It caught the homunculus by surprise.

 

“Haaaaa!”

 

Elt spun around as fast as he could. Before Lilihom could do anything, she was thrown downwards with amazing speed. She tried to halt her descent but she was too late. She crashed to the ground before she could do anything.

 

Well, there  _ was _ something she could do to dull the impact. She transformed herself into a slimegirl just before she hit the ground.

 

She splattered all over the ground, with her now translucent semi-liquid body escaping her clothes. She gathered herself just fine however, returning to her solid body (that still wore her clothes) before Elt arrived.

 

“So you can turn to a slimegirl too,” he remarked with an impressed tone.

 

“Currently, I am only capable of transforming into a few couple of monsters. But eventually, as I mature, I would be able to transform into every single monster in existence,” she explained matter-of-factly.

 

“Matured? You already looked pretty mature to me…” he replied, taking a glance at her still exposed chest.

 

“I am just a newborn. The more I absorb demonic energy, the more I shall grow,” she replied.

 

_ “That means she could be still far stronger than this! Even though she’s plenty strong already!” _ he thought to himself with worry.  _ “At her peak, could she even rival the Demon Lord herself?” _

 

Elt didn’t really have a strong affiliation with the Demon Lord. Sure, he served her daughter, but he had never actually met her own person, or even visited her realm. He knew however that apparently Druella and her didn’t really get along, or at the very least, their methods differed. Druella was branded as an “extremist” by the majority of the monsters, who never desired to invade and convert human lands. And the Demon Lord herself seemed to abide by that opinion, as she spent all her time couped up in her castle with her husband. He heard that she was building up power to shatter the remaining control that the Chief God had on the world. It was clear that whatever the Order did wasn’t that big of a concern to her. And her style of ruling had always been quite hands-off, leaving all the details to the local rulers.

 

However, their goal was still one of the same. To create a true utopia on this world.

 

And standing against that goal was the girl standing before her.

 

He had a feeling that if she got even more stronger than she already was, she would become a threat even to the Demon Lord herself.

 

On the other hand, if he could get her to their side, they could feed her near-unlimited amounts of demonic energy right away. She would be their trump card against the Arlandians.

 

If only… if only he could break whatever vile method her creator bound her mind with.

 

“Oh, you two are still not finished yet?”

 

He nearly jumped in response hearing that voice. He turned around and sure enough, that accursed alchemist was there.

 

Speak of the devil and she would come.

 

“Master, I humbly apologize.” Lilihom bowed. “The enemy was stronger than I had anticipated.”

 

_ Wait, if she’s here, then that means-- _

 

“Oh, I see you’ve taken some damage, Lilihom.” Astrid smiled as she looked at the homunculus’ exposed breasts that her torn dress had failed to conceal. “Is it your doing, I take it?” She turned towards Elt.

 

“W-where’s Lucille?” he shouted.

 

“Oh come on, you don’t need me to answer that for you, now you do? You perfectly know where she is right now,” Astrid replied with a wicked grin.

 

“I-is she?”

 

“Gone. Erased. Not coming back,” she interrupted. “It’s only you now.”

 

The look on Elt’s face at that moment pleased the alchemist greatly. Back at home, some people called her a witch, thanks to the combination of her attitude and all the “shady” alchemy things she did. Here, you could really see that “witch-ness” of her shine. 

 

And now, the young man launched himself right towards her. She could read his simple mind like a book.

 

And speaking of books, she summoned a giant one in front of her to block his attack. It didn’t last long as Elt chopped through its reinforced cover and papers quickly, but it was enough for Lilihom to charge towards him and stab him from the back with her unicorn horn that had grown on her forehead.

 

“G-gah!”

 

As his movement stopped, Astrid used the opportunity to inject her drug into his body. Its effects were near-instantaneous. He could feel his muscles going numb as he slowly drifted into unconsciousness. He could only stare at the alchemist with pure hatred in his eyes, making his last vision of that being Astrid’s smug and satisfied smile before he fell down to the ground.

 

“Mmm, I don’t think I’ll get rid of you just yet. It would be more amusing to see you reunited with your wives after all. And besides…”

 

She turned to the homunculus and said, “Lilihom, clean this young man up.”

 

“Yes, Master.”

 

She then sat down on the ground, lifting Elt’s head so that it rested on her lap. Then, she put her two hands on the two sides of his head.

 

“Beginning cleansing process.”

 

She put both of her hands on his temples and began injecting him with her alchemical mana. It rapidly filled his entire body, changing his demonic mana into alchemy mana as well. His outer form didn't change, except for his wounds being healed. Only the founding blocks of his existence did.

 

Unlike monsterization done with demonic energy, her conversion didn't have to be done through sex or other lewd acts. A simple touch was enough. Astrid wouldn't tolerate her creation having to do that kind of thing every time she had to convert someone after all.

 

After she finished, she put his head back down on the ground before standing up.

 

“What next, Master?” she asked.

 

“Next is you changing into a new dress. A girl shouldn't show off her breasts like that,” Astrid said with a grin as she looked at Lilihom's exposed chest once again.

 

“How about him, Master?” she glanced at the still unconscious Elt.

 

“We'll wait for him to wake up. Then, we'll see if he would have a change of heart after the influence of the Demon Lord is out from him,” she answered with an amused smile.

 

* * *

 

When Elt woke up, it was as if he had woken up from a nightmare.

 

His last memories were that despicable alchemist's face. She had killed Lucille. It wasn't enough that she had killed and tortured Lady Druella in such a gruesome fashion.

 

...Wait…

 

Lady… Druella?

 

Druella… Isn't that… the monster who attacked Lescatie?

 

Why… are he calling her like that?

 

Suddenly, it all clicked together. He freezed as his mind re-evaluated every memory; every experience that he had ever had.

 

It all came to one conclusion.

 

He had fallen.

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

 

He clutched his head; his eyes bulging as he realized what he had done. He had let Lescatie fall. And not only that, he now was part of another invasion to monsterize another kingdom. But worst of all however, was all the debauchery he had done with the young mage Mimil. She was just twelve! And all the things he did with the other girls as well! His love was only Wilmarina, and nobody else! Sure, they were all attractive in their own ways, and he would be lying if he said he didn't have the tiniest desire for them, but that didn’t mean he wanted to marry and bed all of them! And why did they want to be with him in the first place?!

 

“Haa… haa… haa… haa…”

 

His breath slowly calmed down as he accepted everything. He could feel his heart beating rapidly as he put his left hand there, with his right still on his forehead. Cold sweat was all over his body.

 

“Have you come back to your senses?”

 

He gasped in surprise. He turned around and saw two familiar figures standing in front of him.

 

The alchemist and her homunculus.

 

“Let's repeat the introductions, shall we?” Astrid continued with a cheeky smile. “My name is Astrid Zexis, and the girl standing beside me is Lilihom, a homunculus. And you are Elt of Lescatie, correct?”

 

He nodded in return.

 

“Excellent. Then, I have one question for you, Elt. Do you still hate me for killing the monster responsible for Lescatie's downfall and her subordinate?”

 

His tongue froze. He couldn’t answer the question right away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Arland 4 just being announced, I may or may not add the new characters from there to the fic, depending on how long time has passed from the ending of Meruru to the start of Lulua.
> 
> But, I have to say that there are a couple of stuff from there that would fit nicely with this story.
> 
> First was the existence of Piana. She was there in Totori and she actually already started learning alchemy there. But we never heard of her and her alchemical prowess in Meruru. But now, it’s revealed that she indeed becomes a full-fledged alchemist. If she were to appear, she wouldn’t be in the MGE world though. At least not right away. Arland needs an alchemist too after all and it would make sense for her to hold the fort back there, so to speak.
> 
> Next was the existence of the Alchemy Riddle book and how Lulua was the only one who could read and decipher it. It’s most likely linked to the advanced civilization of Arland’s past. And it’s said that it would grant great power to anyone who could decipher it fully. It seemed only Lulua would be able to do it, and since it would take years for her to do so, it probably wouldn’t influence the fight vs the monsters in the MGE world.
> 
> Lastly, with a new character wielding giant bazookas and machine guns as her weapon of choice, that’s another type of weaponry that Arland could mass-produce for the human fighters in MGE. I guess their weaponry has gotten even more advanced since the days of Rorona where there are only pistols and rifles.


	21. Chapter 21

 

At the same time, back at the capital city, a fierce fight was currently in progress.

Wilmarina, the self-titled Dark Hero of the newly established Order of The Dark Knights of Lescatie, was fighting against Ludwig Giovanni Arland, the former king of Arland and now the head of the Arland Republic.

They were evenly matched, with no side being able to gain any significant advantage against the other. Gio had the superior speed, but Wilmarina countered that by her ice magic that slowed down his movements. The cold seeped into his joints and muscles, making them less reactive than they should. She had the title of the Ice Flower of Lescatie after all, showing how much she had mastered ice magic. And after her monsterization, that ability only became stronger.

Thanks to their duel, the castle and its courtyard were slowly being consumed by ice and frost.

“Hmph, you're a worthy opponent indeed,” Gio said as he deflected another one of her blows.

“Shut up. I have no need for praise when it comes from people like you,” Wilmarina replied as she moved in to chase after him.

Wilmarina was starting to get frustrated. Not because she was losing, but because she couldn't close the match. Even with his reduced speed, he still managed to dodge her every blow. If she could only land one or two of her sword strikes, she could spread frost all around his body and that would be the end of it. But this old man already guessed that plan, so he stayed on the defensive, only attacking when there was a sure fire gap in her attacks.

She had no time to be wasted on him. She must close out this invasion so that she could return to her darling. Call it a womanly hunch, but she was starting to fear for his safety. She knew that Lucella was with him, but still, she couldn't help but worry.

_ Here it comes again! _

In one swift motion, Gio drew his blade and charged towards her with incredible speed. He simply called this attack “The Slash”. Luckily for her, the attack only came in a straight line, so as long as she could dodge to the side, she would be fine.

Even so, once again, she only managed to dodge by a hair's breadth.

And, just like before, once he was done, he returned to his previous position in a near instant, not allowing her to punish said attack.

It was as she was fighting a human lightning strike.

“Hmm, I guess I have to get more serious now.”

He then returned back to his stance from before where he leaned forward slightly with his left hand holding the sheath of his sword and his right going for the handle. Wilmarina took notice and immediately readied herself for another attack.

Only to find out that it was a different move entirely.

The swordsman split himself into four with afterimages as he moved so fast back and forth. Realizing what he was trying to do, she quickly leaped off the ground, just in time before she could be surrounded by him and his afterimages. She knew the swordsman couldn't fly, which was her main advantage against him. She had tried to bombard him with spells from the skies, but none of her spells were landing. Spells were just too slow against him. Not to mention that he still could attack back by just swinging his sword hard enough to form blades of air pressure aimed right at her.

The afterimages receded, focusing Gio back to one person.

“Very nice indeed, young lady. I see you have quite the well polished warrior instinct inside you. A shame that we have to be enemies like this.”

For Gio who had trained himself in the path of the sword all his life, a worthy opponent was always something he could appreciate.

However, Wilmarina didn't have such a mindset. Or, to be more precise, she never had it in the first place. Even though she also trained in the way of a hero ever since she was little, she never did it out of her own will like Gio did. They were opposites in the matter. Gio wasn't supposed to be the strongest swordsman in Arland. He was supposed to merely be a king with all his kingly duties. But he rejected the life that he had been given. He took his own path, even as nearly everyone stood against it. On the other side, Wilmarina accepted the role given to her meekly, and she only obtained the strength to break free from the chains placed around her as a monster.

She had no pride as a hero or a warrior. Her only pride was to be the wife of her dear Elt.

That, and to be the defender of the new Lescatie, a wonderful magical city of love and immorality.

And she took a very dim view of anyone who threatened her paradise.

“If only you weren't amongst those threatening Lescatie, I would welcome you to our beautiful city,” she replied. “But you are one of those Arlandians, visitors from another world who decided selfishly to attack us monsters. I would have no mercy for you.”

“I see… So you believe us to be the villains… Tell me, your name is Wilmarina Noscrim, correct?”

“What of it?” she snapped back.

“You used to belong to the Order yet you now are one of the monsters. And it seems you are glad of your transformation instead of being distressed by it even though it was forced into you.”

“H-how did you know that?”

“From a book that one of my companions managed to obtain.”

_ It must be the book the Wandering Scholar was making! _

She was there when he visited Lescatie. Druella had decided to give him safe passage so they let him go. To think that his work would be used by the enemy like this.

“I see. So you people also get your hands on the books made by the Wandering Scholar. I see that your people are less close-minded than those high-strung bishops of the Order,” she replied with a small smirk. She had assumed that only monster-sympathetic people would get their hands on his books as the Order faithful would immediately deem the book as heretical before burning it into dust.

“Too bad you Arlandians have become the biggest threat against us monsters, even more than the Order itself. I doubt those zealots would be able to capture Lady Druella like you did.”

“You seem to have quite the dim view of the Order,” Gio interjected. “How peculiar for someone who used to be their strongest champion.”

“Hah, don't make me laugh! They're just selfishly putting all their expectations onto me! My only regret in betraying them was that I didn't do it sooner! It took Lady Druella for my eyes to be opened!”

With that anger, she swooped back down towards Gio. Of course, such an obvious attack wouldn't land on him, as he simply sidestepped to the side to dodge it. However, the moment she landed, a wave of frost erupted all around her, and it managed to catch the swordsman off-guard. It slowed him just enough for Wilmarina to leap towards him before he could dodge. Thankfully, he managed to block her sword with his own.

“Checkmate!”

Frost immediately grew from her blade, transferring over to Gio's. Gio quickly realized what was happening and dashed backwards. But the frost still grew and it was approaching the handle, no doubt aiming to climb over into his hand.

It was one of Wilmarina's ultimate techniques. Blossoming Ice. Once it touched you, it would quickly grow and consume you. The only way to escape it was by burning and melting it completely right away, something Gio couldn't do since he couldn't cast any fire magic, or any magic for that matter.

Luckily for him, alchemy was on his side.

He concentrated his thoughts and immediately the ice stopped on its tracks as it started to melt.

His blade's base ore was created by the alchemists, and amongst other things, it possessed the power of the four elements. He just had to call on them to manifest them on the blade.

Naturally, with the power of the fire element, he could heat up the blade and melt the ice on them.

He finished it off stylishly by flicking the remaining water off the blade.

“Fire enchantment, hmm? You dodged a bullet there,” Wilmarina remarked confidently with a smirk. Even though she ultimately failed, she finally managed to make the old man sweat a little.

“Indeed. If not for her giving me this new blade, I would've been in big trouble for sure,” he replied thoughtfully.

Their fight soon resumed, with both sides knowing a little better on what their opponents were capable of.

Meanwhile, a distance away from the fight, a certain elven werewolf was watching their fight. She couldn't help but to be amazed by how Wilmarina managed to keep up with him. She now knew well by her own two eyes why she was Lescatie, no, the entire Order's number one hero.

She tried to aim her bow many times throughout their fight, but she hadn't managed to find that one perfect moment to unleash her shot. She knew that she only got one chance. If she missed, that old man would notice that she was still here, and he would never lay down his guard to her again.

Suddenly, her ears twitched. Someone was quickly approaching her location from behind.

Instinctively, she jumped to a different rooftop, just in time to dodge Esty landing on her former location, twinblades brandished on hand.

“Good reaction,” Esty said with a grin before launching herself towards Primera once more.

_ That was close. If I hadn't rushed here, who knew what would've happened. _

_ Now, to do my job as a bodyguard. _

Esty's main task was to be Gio's bodyguard. But instead of taking care of all the threats to him by herself, she usually ended up only making sure that no outsiders would interrupt Gio's fight with said threat. Gio was stronger than her, and he was not the kind of man to stand idly by while his subordinate fought for him.

And Primera fit the very definition of said outsider.

“You know, it's really rude trying to snipe someone from behind like that, especially when they're fighting a different opponent,” Esty said to her as she chased after her.

_...Damn, another Arlandian? I should have not being hesitant and fire right away! _

Primera turned her body 180° and fired off a bunch of arrows rapidly mid-air. Esty quickly responded by slicing some of them with her blades and dodging the others.

_ She's fast! Maybe just as fast as the other guy! _

She then formulated a different approach. Instead of attacking her from the front, she would attack her from the back. But to do that, she needed to shake her off her tail first, even if just for a single moment.

And so midway through jumping towards the next rooftop, she sharply changed her direction, diving right towards the ground instead.

It was enough to catch Esty off guard.

When she landed on the ground herself, the werewolf was nowhere to be found.

“Playing hide or seek? Or you're actually running back towards your friend?”

Esty jumped back to the rooftops. With her eyes, she scanned her immediate surroundings. Hmm, no movement she could see.

She should still be around here somewhere then.

She jumped back down, intending to search her from the ground. Unfortunately for her, the area near her was full of overhang roofs that covered the tiny little crevices and narrow roads between the houses. A person could easily hid under said roofs thus a search from above would be fruitless. She knew that she would take a bigger risk doing it like this, but she had to take care of the monster before she returned back to Gio’s place. With all the overhang ceilings, she could stealthily go there without her noticing.

She put her ears on the ground. As a spy, she had a very well-trained hearing that could pick up specific noises easily even from a noisy background. She could hear from afar the battle that was going on with Gio as well as the battle at the gates. And she could hear the silent breaths coming in from the houses as its residents cowered in fear, waiting for the assault to be over.

What she really needed to hear however was an entirely different sound. The sound of footsteps coming from the outside, not from the inside. Perhaps even the sound of running.

…

…

…

_ There it is! And it’s direction is… going here?! _

Without even waiting for visual confirmation, Esty dashed backwards away from the sound to her left. But she was slightly too late, as Primera’s claws managed to slash her left hand.

“Gah!”

The wound wasn’t really painful, but she could feel her strength sinking away at her left hand. She quickly sheathed her left blade before she lost control entirely of her left arm.

“W-well done. Y-you got me there,” she said to the werewolf with a grin.

“Ha, take that, you Arlandian human!” Primera replied with her own grin. “You now could only use one sword!”

Primera then launched herself at Esty with her claws primed, intending to stay on the offensive. Esty blocked her swing with her right hand sword while swinging her left leg to tackle the werewolf’s own right. It made her become slightly imbalanced, which was enough for her to retreat.

Now the tables were turned. The hunter became the hunted.

Esty’s speed allowed her to keep her distance from Primera, but Primera wasn’t just chasing after her passively. She bombarded her with arrows from a distance, making her have to turn her back to defend with her remaining sword, slowing her down.

Not to mention that the wound was starting to infect her mentally as well as demonic energy seeped into her blood veins. She started to think about her life, how she was nearing 50 years old yet she was still without a husband. It had always been a sensitive subject to her, even when she was in her mid-twenties. But alas, she was always too busy with her job to find the soulmate she always wanted.

_ Grrh, why am I thinking about that now? Their poison must be getting into me. I’m feeling a strange heat rising up as well too… _

_...Oh, that’s right! I have that in my pocket! _

Only now she realized that she had been given a vial of Elixir in case of something like this happening. She reached to the inner pocket of her coat and sure enough, the little bottle was there.

Naturally, she immediately took a gulp of it.

_ Ha, she's running! She's running away! I almost had her! _

Primera's wild instinct nearly took over her entire mind. Even though her opponent was a woman, she felt a strong desire to ravage and violate her as she turned her into a monster. She could smell it. A scent of a woman who desired love and affection from the opposite sex yet failing to earn it. She would turn her into a beautiful werewolf and make said problem disappear.

“Unleash your aggressive side and hunt down the man you love!” she would say that to her.

She fired off another set of arrows imbued with her demonic energy. Instead of aiming straight at her however, she fired them off into the front of the clock tower ahead of her. Then, she fired off another set of arrows, this time aimed straight at the Arlandian. She intended to perform a two-pronged attack. The arrows aimed at the clock tower would bounce back right towards her, cutting her path, and the second arrows would chase after her. Either of those would land for sure.

The first set of arrows bounced as expected, as they were imbued by her demonic energy, giving them the ability. Meanwhile, the second set of arrows were fast approaching Esty’s back. Primera had timed it so that the two would arrive simultaneously. With one hand, there was no way she could slice both group of arrows at once.

With two hands however…

_ W-what? H-her hand! S-she can use her hand again! _

Esty simply spinned in mid-air wielding her two swords, cutting down all the arrows in a single sweep, to the absolute bafflement of Primera, who hadn’t seen her drink the Elixir. Esty then used this chance to change her direction mid-air, going straight towards the werewolf monster. She threw a couple of her daggers at her. She raised her claws to block only to find out that they explode upon contact. The impact sent her flying in off-balance, a chance that Esty didn’t miss.

_ N-no! I-I must-- _

Primera rolled in an attempt to dodge Esty’s incoming blow, only to roll down off the rooftop she was on. And before she could recover from the second impact to the ground, Esty had already landed beside her, resting the tip of her blade at her throat. She sat on her, making sure that she really couldn’t move.

“I-I lost…” Primera knew the moment she moved a muscle, her blade would pierce through her neck.

“Indeed you do,” Esty said with a grin. “It was quite close though. If not for the Elixir, that double-sided attack of yours would’ve finished me off for sure.”

“T-the Elixir?”

“Medicine created by our alchemists. Instantly cure all your wounds in an instant. Really convenient, huh?”

“T-that’s… that’s not fair…”

“Well, all’s fair in love and war, as they say,” Esty replied cheerfully. “Now, what to do with you?”

_ E-Elt… I-I’m sorry… I-I’ve failed... _

“F-fine! Take my life! My darling Elt will surely avenge me!” she said with fire in her eyes. She had always been a stubborn girl that never readily accepted her own weakness.

Not to mention the fact that death was not necessarily the end, with necromancy being a thing and all. It didn’t matter if she had to return as an undead, as long as she could still be with her dear husband.

“Hmm, let’s see…” Esty continued, ignoring her words. “Oh! I also have that in my pocket!”

She reached into her coat pocket once more to bring out another small vial filled with liquid inside.

“If you agree to drink this, then I’ll let you live,” she declared, her smile now turning sinister all of a sudden, at least to Primera.

“Y-you’re going to torture me by poison?”

“Oh no, we don’t do torture anymore in Arland. It is poison though. It would incapacitate you. Might even make you lose consciousness. But it won’t kill you. It’s just to keep you out of the battle,” Esty explained gleefully. She had to admit. She enjoyed this if just for a little bit, especially after Primera brought her mind back to her…  _ extremely _ personal problem that she always tried to forget.

Primera looked at the vial hanging by her fingers. The liquid inside looked clear and pleasant to drink. She wouldn’t think it was poison at first glance.

_ But that’s just what those sneaky alchemists want you to think! _

“If not,” Esty gave an exaggerated sigh, “Then I suppose I would just have to decapitate you and then cut your body into pieces, just to be sure you wouldn’t come back. I know how much you monsters could heal yourselves, especially with all this demonic energy floating around.

“F-fine! I’ll take your poison!” Primera quickly replied.

Giving a satisfied grin, Esty opened the cap of the vial (you can open it with one hand).

“Say ‘aaaaaaaaa!’” she said to Primera, ordering her to open her mouth. Reluctantly, the monster obeyed, even though the only person she wanted to do this to her was her darling Elt.

The moment the liquid inside landed on her tongue, she felt a burning sensation that made her cough. Esty didn’t hesitate however as she continued pouring the liquid until the vial was absolutely empty.

“There! That should do the job!” Esty exclaimed.

And indeed it did. Primera soon found out that her strength left her completely. She couldn’t lift even a muscle. All of her energy was constantly drained by the poison now flowing through her veins. She tried absorbing the surrounding demonic energy but she found out that she couldn’t.

“Now, be a good girl and stay here until the fight is over,” Esty said to her as she stood back up.

Primera moved her jaw, wanting to say something, but the Arlandian spy had already left before she could, leaving only dust in her tracks.

And then, she fell into a deep slumber.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know about the recently released profiles of the other Fallen Maidens. I would have included them in the invasion if the translation had been released earlier.
> 
> Maybe they’ll appear later. Lescatie is still there after all.


	22. Chapter 22

Never before in his life did Elt feel this much confusion and chaos in his head.

He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand so many of the actions he had taken and the reasoning behind them ever since the fall of Lescatie. To think that he would willingly betray the Order and join the monsters.

...No. That was not that surprising. Deep down, he knew he never really liked the Order or agreed with their methods. And he always had some sympathy to the monsters, or at least, a little more than his Order comrades and higher-ups who were always merciless to them. And if Wilmarina or his other friends were to defect to them, he wasn’t sure if he would stay faithful to the Order.

Heh, “friends”. They were lovers. His lovers.

This was the surprising part however. The only woman he truly ever loved was Wilmarina, yet he took them all as his wives too. Why would he do such a thing?

...It was to bring them happiness. They loved him, even though he didn’t love them as deeply as they did.

That’s what he had been rationalizing all this time.

No, there was no rationality in it. It was just a spontaneous thing. He accepted them as they made love to him, whether he originally wanted to or not.

With them being alright with it, and with him being alright with it as well, that was the most surprising part.

“I…” he slowly answered Astrid’s question. “I don’t know.”

Astrid’s smile became wider.

“I never really liked the Order that much but I didn’t want Lescatie to fall either.” He looked up to her. “And I don’t know you. Are you with the Order?”

“What about Druella? What do you think about her?” Astrid asked, ignoring his inquiry.

He paused again before answering.

“She… I… I-I don’t know!” he answered as he held his head.

“Let me rephrase the question. Did you think that what she did to Lescatie a positive or a negative thing?”

“I… I’m not sure…”

“What do you think of the Lescatie now?”

“It’s… it’s…”

“Is it better or is it worse? Just answer quickly. Say whatever it is that’s on your mind right away.”

“I-I don't know, alright!” he loudly answered. “It’s better in some aspects but on the other hand…”

He shuddered. He couldn't handle the more promiscuous.side of the new Lescatie.

“Then, what if we take the best aspects from the old and new and combine them together?”

“W-what do you mean?” Elt asked.

“Inside you currently flow a new type of mana that I, Astrid, the genius alchemist, had created. It could keep you in your monster form while not having any of the influence of the Demon Lord that normal demonic energy possesses,” she explained.

Elt started to examine his own body. Nothing really looked any different.

“That influence being lifted was why you felt so terribly confused right now. That succubus made it so your inhibitions are lowered and your libido is increased. Sex would become like food to you that you can't do without for even a single day; like meals that you have to take three times a day. It's quite poetic, really. For a succubus, intercourse really is their meal time.”

Elt had no idea about any of this. Such information was never freely distributed to the public. All the Order church taught was that monsters are evil, and that was the end of it.

“On the other hand, the mana inside you now was born out of Lilihom here—she patted her head—and she is a homunculus, a blank slate with no preferences or dislikes that could influence her mana. Her mana, I dub it 'alchemical mana’ myself, is basically a purely neutral incarnation of demonic mana. Isn't it great?!” Astrid said with a big grin on her face.

Elt wasn't sure he understood what she just said. So instead he eyed the homunculus up and down.

“She...she looks like Druella…”

“Indeed she is! She's based on her after all! For her to be the future demon lord, it's most fitting for her to be born out of one of the current lord's daughters.”

Elt gazed into her eyes. Her stare… it was nothing like Druella's constantly passionate and flirtatious gaze.

“You… you're the one who killed Druella, didn't you? And Lucella as well,” he asked as his sight returned to the alchemist.

“Oh? Do you disagree?” Astrid said with a taunting smirk, crossing her arms under her chest. “Do you wish to seek revenge for them?”

He slowly stood up as he gave his answer.

“They… they didn't deserve that!” he said in a weak anger as his fists shook. “Especially Druella!”

“I assume you're talking about the torture I did?” Astrid replied with full amusement. “It was pure research, you know. I need many of her body parts to create Lilihom. Working with demonic energy wasn't exactly easy, you know, though of course, as I am a genius, I did it in the end.”

“I don't care about your goal!” he replied. “Not to mention that creating artificial life and designing her to be an emotionless absolutely loyal servant like that… I-I can't get behind it! I-it's all wrong!”

Elt panted after his little speech. It had taken him out of his breath.

“I see…” Astrid replied with a mock sad expression on her face. “That is a shame.”

Astrid had seen this outcome to be perfectly honest. Even back in her own world, the creation of homunculus had a history of being deemed as a heretical, unnatural act by the general public. It was mostly in the past though. With the march of time, so too the superstitions of the masses vanished. The cultural level of this world looked to be a couple hundred years behind that of Arland so it would make sense that the people here would be suspicious of such an act. That was why they never disclosed to the general public that they were capable of such a feat for as long as they had been here.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Astrid asked once again. “You know your many wives are still fighting out there.”

Elt's eyes widened when he heard those words.

“I-I have to go get them at once!” he said to himself before bolting in a run.

“Lilihom…”

“Yes, Master. Right away.”

Before he could go far, Lilihom flew towards him and tackled him from behind. She didn't keep him down however. She stood up immediately and dusted her dress after he'd been stopped in his tracks.

“Gah!” he shouted as he crashed onto the dirt once again.

“Now now, don't be hasty,” Astrid chuckled as she walked towards him. “You'll get to them faster if you come with me. Oh, don't give me that look. I don't intend to kill your dear wives if I can help it. I only hold a grudge against Druella. If you all leave this kingdom now, I wouldn't mind.”

Elt's face slightly lighted up. He still couldn't trust the alchemist but he felt that she had no reason to lie. She didn't act like any of the typical monster-hunting fanatics he knew. And if she wanted him dead, he would be dead already.

_ But look at her! She's the very definition of a shady character!  _ — his inner voice screamed.

_ I got no choice! She would never let me go on my own!  _ — he tried to justify his thought to himself.

“So, have you decided yet?” Astrid asked once again.

Elt paused for a while before answering.

“Y-yes… I-I’ll go with you…”

“Great! Then, ready yourself! First time using a Warp Gate tends to make people go a little queasy.”

Before Elt could say anything, Astrid took out something — he couldn’t tell what because it happened so fast — from her coat pocket, raised it up to the sky, and then a white light covered them as space warped all around them. The light was so blinding he instinctively covered his eyes.

And when he opened it, he was not standing where he was once before.

Instead, he was inside what looked like to be the courtyard of a castle.

“Nice! The beacon is still functional!” Astrid said with great cheer. “I guess they hadn’t reached this part of the town yet.”

“Master, detecting the presence of a powerful monster nearby,” Lilihom announced.

“Well, scratch that, they’re here already. Coordinates, Lilihom?”

“Ten o’clock from where you’re facing, Master. About 200 feet away.”

“I see. Let’s go there, shall we? I believe that might be one of your wives, Elt,” she said, glancing at him with a smile.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He immediately rushed towards the direction Lilihom mentioned.

“Ah, the passion of youth…”

-xxx-

It was indeed one of his wives as they had arrived in the courtyard of the castle Gio was protecting. He and Wilmarina were still going against each other, with no side letting up against the other. The result of their battle could be seen all around them, with gashes all over the ground and the walls along with the frost covering them all.

But if Gio were to be honest, he was starting to feel tired from their battle.

Unlike the succubus, he couldn’t have practically infinite stamina by absorbing the Demonic Energy in their surroundings. And he was no longer a young man. Even if his skill today eclipsed his skill at his youth, his stamina was another matter entirely.

Oh, do not make a mistake thinking that he had the stamina of an ordinary old man. Even at this age, he still had the stamina comparable to a hundred youth in their prime. And his sword style made sure to not make any unnecessary movement to conserve stamina as much as possible.

But a human, no matter how super, had his limits. And he knew he was slowly but surely approaching them.

Which was why he decided that he had to end their battle soon.

If only he could find an opening on her…

“Wilmarina! W-Wilmarina, i-is that you?!”

Elt’s voice reached the succubus’ ears, and it made her look away from the fight as her focus was abruptly shifted to the direction where the voice came from.

It was enough for Gio to be able to end her in a single, fatal blow.

However, as he reached to his blade, he changed his mind.

The expression on her face… he never had a wife but he perfectly knew what kind of expression it was.

It would be of the utmost cowardy for him to strike her down in a moment like this.

“E-Elt? W-why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be-- w-wait, w-why are you with-”

Behind Elt stood Astrid with a grin, as if she was taunting Wilmarina that her husband was now in her grip, and that there was nothing she could do about it.

“You! Release him at once!” she shouted as Astrid.

“Release him? What are you talking about? I'm not keeping him hostage. It saddens me that you view me as someone so base that I would resort to hostage-taking,” Astrid replied with her usual mocking tone.

“Wilmarina! We have to retreat! Druella… Druella is dead! We… we have failed…”

“L-Lady Druella… is dead?”

“I killed her. As well as that baphomet servant of hers.”

It was clear from her face that Astrid enjoyed taunting the fallen hero very much.

“You! You killed them? A-and Lucella too?”

“Yes, Blowed them all both to bits with my bomb,” she answered with a grin. “Only this young man here survived, though I did alter his body composition.”

“YOU DID WHAT TO MY DEAR ELT?”

Wilmarina immediately looked at Elt more closely, flying and landing right in front of him. He didn't look any different than his usual self, but as she reached to feel his demonic essence, she could find nothing.

_ W-what? How could this-- _

She scanned him again. Still nothing. Instead, his body was now formed by an alien life energy that she had never encountered before. It gave off the sensation of demonic energy, yet at the same time, it was clearly something different entirely. Demonic energy was passionate; sensual; full of life. But this… this energy was bland. Colourless. Tasteless.

“M-Mary, what are you--”

She leaned forward and kissed him deeply; her tongue intimately exploring every inch of her husband's mouth. Elt, taken aback at first, replied with the same vigor.

To her horror, she wasn't feeling the same maddening heat that she always received every time she did something intimate like this with her dear Elt. It felt awkward. And sloppy.

She released her mouth from his. And then, she shook his shoulders, asking, “Oh, what did they do to you?” with a terribly worried look on her face, tears welling up in her eyes.

And then, she released him, unsheathed her blade, and gave an absolute look of hatred towards Astrid as she said, “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?”

Astrid, unfazed in the slightest, answered with, “He's now a monster filled with alchemical mana. He no longer possessed the demonic energy your Demon Lord infused with her succubus energy. So, as you surely have noticed, he now has a perfectly ordinary sexual prowess and passion, as he no longer receives the boost given by Lilith's energy. My alchemical mana is perfectly neutral after all.”

Wilmarina had no idea how to react to that. Elt was now filled with an entirely different type of mana? One that's created by the Arlandians?

“D-don't worry, dear! I'll infuse you with my mana back once we're finished here!”

“M-Mary? I… I don't think I want to go back being filled with Lilith's demon energy…”

Wilmarina looked at Elt incredulously. D-did she really hear that right?

“M-my head feels much clearer now. I… I can think better as well. U-under Lilith's energy, I… I had done many horrible things simply because I felt fine doing them… E-even though it shouldn't be fine at all!” he shouted.

“W-what are you talking about, dear? You've done nothing wrong! Nothing wrong atvall!” Wilmarina replied, giving him a hug. “I'm much happier with me being a succubus and you an incubus! We can embrace and frolic freely everyday, unlike when we were humans!”

“I know,” Elt replied, placing his hand on Wilmarina's head. “Those were the happiest days of my life. What I'm talking about was how I had made the others my wives as well and frolicked with them. I shouldn't have done that since I never really loved them in that way! Especially Mimiru! She's only a child yet I… I…”

“You're not making any sense, dear,” Wilmarina answered with a smile, hugging him even stronger. “If you're afraid of me being jealous, as long as you give me the most attention out of your other wives, I'm fine with that. And they're perfectly happy with the arrangement as well. Mimiru might be little but she's old enough to feel womanly desire just like any of us!”

“N-no, that's not right! This harem thing… it could never have worked without Lilith's influence!” Elt rebuked her.

“Then it's a good thing we're under her influence, no? It makes us more honest with ourselves and it grants us a happy and peaceful love-filled household… Isn't that a positive thing to have?”

“No! Not when you have to resort to manipulating our minds!”

Elt pushed himself away from Wilmarina to her horror. He then shook her shoulders strongly, saying, “You have to wake up too, Mary! Please!”

Tears welled up in the succubus’ eyes. This was the first time. This was the first time her dear Elt had acted so roughly to her.

And suddenly, Astrid moved forward and injected her with her poison.

“Lilihom! Now!”

The homunculus swooped in and wrapped herself around the succubus, holding her in place from the back.

“W-what are you doing? Release her at once!” Elt quickly said.

“Oh don't worry. I'm simply applying the same process I applied to you to her, that's all,” Astrid said with a smile.

“You! Attacking me from behind when I’m most vulnerable!!” Wilmarina shouted in anger as she struggled to free herself. “Ngrrrhhh! Graaahhh!”

Tried as she might, she could only feel herself weakening more and more as the poison took its toll on her body. Not to mention the grip of the girl restraining her was inhumanly strong as well. She tried using her ice power to freeze her but the girl was emitting a body warmth hot enough to counteract her ability. Then she tried using her succubus power to seduce her, increasing the deliciousness of the skin contact between them. However, there was no effect at all.

In the end, she could only look at Elt with tears in her eyes and said, “Elt, h-help… please…”

It was enough to make the young man snap.

But before he could dash forward to save his wife, Gio used the dull end of his blade to knock him on the back of his head, turning him unconscious.

“Wow, I'm surprised you're willing to do something dirty like that,” Astrid remarked.

“I don't take pleasure in it. It is certainly a coward's act,” he replied, sheathing back his sword. “But it is necessary, unfortunately.”

“Leave the dirty jobs to me. You can just stay playing superhero,” the alchemist replied as she watched the start of the purification process on Wilmarina.

-xxx-

“Ah!”

Wilmarina woke up with jolted eyes. She looked up and saw the face of Druella staring down at her. She had been sleeping on her lap, it seemed.

“L-Lady Druella?”

No, it wasn’t her. It was the homunculus.

Why did she look so uncannily like her? She even had the same body shape and proportion.

But from her perfectly non-sensual mannerism to her modest clothes, she was the opposite of Druella.

And then, the memories rushed in.

She held her head with her hands with a pained expression as she began re-examining everything she had done from the day she was monsterized.

She saw how she herself became the lynchpin of the invasion of Lescatie as she was the one who pinpointed the weakness in the barrier that the kingdom had erected to protect itself against the monsters. She saw how she shamelessly forced herself to her darling Elt with only pure joy in her heart. She saw the endless days of pleasure she enjoyed with him.

She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe she had did all of that.

And yet, she knew without any doubt that she indeed had done them all.

“W-what have I done… What have I done?!” she shouted as she rose up to a sitting position, still holding her head.

“Put her down, Lilihom. It seems she has awaken at last,”

Lilihom did as she was told, gently detaching herself from the still confused girl.

“Mary, are you all right?” Elt said as he kneeled in front of her. He had woke up earlier than her, thanks to one of Astrid's medicines, and after expressing his anger at Astrid, he calmed down and waited with her for Wilmarina's purification to finish.

Gio, on the other hand, had left with Esty. The two then decided they would be better of use in the fight outside the gates.

“I...I'm fine…”

Realizing that Elt was sitting really close to her however made her immediately stand up with a blush on her face.

She was embarrassed. All their intimate moments were fresh in her mind. And the worst part was that she initiated most of them.

“Mary, you shouldn't move around so fast!” Elt said, rising up after her.

“E-Elt! I-I'm fine, honest!” She waved around her hand with a beet red face.

Seeing the scene unfolding in front of her eyes, Astrid sighed and took a few steps backwards.

“Come on, Lilihom. We should watch them from a distance.”

Lilihom followed, although she didn't understand why they had to distance themselves like this.

A newborn homunculus couldn't understand human feelings after all.

  
  



	23. Chapter 23

_ Just a little more. Just a little more and that knowledge would be mine! _

Such was the thought that swam inside Saphirette's mind as she gazed at the giant pie in front of her.

The ridiculous living weapon was all that was left guarding the alchemist—the prize she wanted so badly that she was willing to assist in this little invasion.

The knowledge of the Arlandians’ alchemy.

With it, she could bring even more prosperity to her kingdom. She and the other magic crafters could create even more wonderful magic items that would make the lives of everyone even happier.

Not to mention the raw curiosity she had for the process itself.

If only a Dark Matter could repeat the process of monsterization, she could absorb her and they would become one being, with her gaining all her knowledge and memories. Alas, it could only happen once, and it happened with her.

And so, she had to do it the old-fashioned way. She would turn this woman into a monster (she believed she would become a succubus) and then, she would tell her arcane secrets perfectly willingly without any problems whatsoever. It was the deal she had made with Druella’s underlings. She would have her first before them.

...Alright maybe it wasn’t going to be that easy. Monsterization wouldn’t immediately change the mind of someone like that. So the next step would be for her to give the now succubus alchemist a human male to prey upon. If she had someone she already liked, it would be that man. If not, it would be the first male she found. Then, once she learned the joy and happiness of monsterized sexual intercourse, she would realize that her cause was foolish, and that she would be better off joining their side.

She could just use one of these soldiers lying around for the latter.

She and her elementals were now slowly carving through the giant pie. The thing was surprisingly tougher than it looked. It highly resisted both physical and magical attacks. Its defense had increased even more once it went into this static mode.

The soldiers who had charged it had all been defeated by Mimiru with ease. Saphirette’s elementals had expressed interest in some of them, but Saphirette told them to finish their task of securing the alchemist first.

_ Before her friends came, I must obtain her. Then I can retreat right away. _

Unfortunately for her, that wish was never going to be true.

From the distance, riding on top of her flying carpet, was Totori. Binocular in hand, she had seen how her teacher, Rorona, was nowhere to be found, while there were still a group of monsters circling around her giant pie.

Immediately, she feared the worst. That her teacher had been defeated. She readied herself for combat.

Saphirette and the others noticed her from a distance, thanks to how wide open the plains were.

“Huh, it seems another one is coming over… And she seems to be another alchemist, judging by the flying carpet. Alright, everyone. Ready yourselves. We’ll take down this one as well. Leave the pie woman for now,” Saphirette declared with confidence.

_ Another alchemist, hmm? That’s just fine by me. The more the merrier! _

“Mimiru will go first! You can all just stay here! I’ll fight her off myself!” the witch said with a grin before launching herself forward towards Totori.

“H-hey! Get back--urgh, children!” Saphirette said in exasperation.

Totori saw one of the monsters moving towards her. Her response was dropping down one of her cannons and firing off a its massive energy beam towards her.

She dodged it. Just like that.

“Tee hee. Now it's my turn! Rend your foes asunder, Thunder Strike!”

Mimiru called down a great bolt of lightning from the heavens. It landed right at Totori's location, shocking the alchemist and her magic carpet. Her automatic Elixir activated; the bottle pouring its contents on her, but it was too late for the magic carpet. It went crashing down, carrying the alchemist with it.

_ She's fast and she has aerial advantage. I need to rethink my strategy. _

Even with things going south right away, Totori did not panic. She was far from her old, scaredy cat self. She would calmly analyze the situation and respond properly.

“Now now don't go anywhere just yet! The pleasure's just started!”

With a lascivious grin, Mimiru ordered her staff to transform itself into tentacles. They all went towards Totori, intending to catch her and, no doubt, violate her.

Totori saw them coming and responded in the most brazen way possible.

Right as they were about to touch her, she detonated a Mega Bomb right in front of her. The explosion enveloped her and the tentacles, evaporating the latter and pushing down the former even harder to the ground.

She made sure to land leg first, so that her head, the spot of her consciousness, wouldn't be harmed.

Needless to say, it was very, very painful. But after being an adventurer for so long, she had gotten used to it. How many times had it been for her small, weak body to be thrown around by big monsters?

Her auto-Elixir activated again, curing her wounds and pain in an instant. She stood up as fast as she could.

And Mimiru could not believe what she just did.

_ W-w-what was that? D-did she just… blow herself up? E-even with her healing potion, I wouldn’t dare doing something like that! She could’ve blowed her head off! N-not to mention how painful it must be! _

_ H-ha, it must be a magic bomb or something! Something that hurts the opponent but doesn’t hurt her at all! _

From her sight up above she saw the Four Elementals approaching to the alchemist's location. Ignis looked to be the one ahead of the pack.

Mimiru decided to retreat for now, waiting for an opening to strike, just like with the other alchemist before.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Totori saw the fire elemental flying towards her direction.

She let out a little smile. She had just the perfect counter to her.

She took out her Heavenly Parasol, and she aimed it towards the charging elemental.

“Ha, what is that? A water umbrella? A magic item like that could never stand up to the heat of my passionate flames!”

The hothead simply took it as a challenge.

She heated her body up to her full power, going so far as to absorbing the demonic energy around her. She now burned like a small star, with flames spreading out of her body much further than her body itself. The flames didn't burn the grassy field below her however, as the elemental had chosen not to burn them. Such was the control she had over her flames.

Totori look unfazed however, which made the elemental even angrier.

“Come on now! Aren't you going to fire off a massive jet of water out of that thing?” she shouted.

No response. And she was closing the distance more and more.

And now, it would be too late for her to do such a thing.

“Got ya!”

She crashed straight at the umbrella, putting all of the intensity of her flames to her front.

To her surprise, the umbrella didn't budge. Instead, she felt as if her flames were being halted.

No, to be more exact, it was her very heat that was being repelled by the umbrella.

And then, Totori angled the umbrella to the back and upwards.

And Ignis felt all her flames' heat being launched towards that direction.

Deflect Heat's effect at the works.

_ W-wha… _

Straight towards Mimiru, who was just about to finish casting her spell.

It disrupted her concentration, as she had thought she was perfectly safe up there. The spell failed to trigger as a result.

The massive heat, out of control from the elemental, swallowed the witch whole. It made her little body burn with mad desire; a desire that could not be fulfilled as her Elt wasn't here 

And so she had to resort to immediate self pleasure. Tentacles formed out of her demonic energy, violating every inch of her nubile body.

“Y-you d-dumb... e-lemental!” Mimiru shouted as she moaned. “Aaahn, E-Elt...Elt!”

Her mind was now filled with fantasies of her and her big brother, pretty much taking her out of the fight.

Such was the effect of the heat coming off from a corrupted Fire Elemental. Even monsters would become crazed with lust and desire. The heat might function as a normal heat against inanimate objects, like water for example, but against living beings, it wouldn’t burn them to ash. Instead, it would drive them mad with passion. The so-called “heat of passion” in the flesh.

Totori wasn't finished however. Only now, after the heat dissipated, she fired off a massive jet of water towards Ignis. Without the majority of their heat, her flames couldn't do anything. She could only scream in pain as the water doused her. She passed out, wholly naked as her only covering was created by her flames, bloodied as the high pressure water tore into her skin.

Two down. Four left.

“You idiot! What did I tell you about rushing ahead?!” Saphirette shouted.

The other elementals were angered as well at the harming of their friend/sister, and they all rushed towards Totori.

Undine fired off her own torrent of water. Gnome shook the ground under her, with sharp rocks jutting out towards her in a line. And Sylph created multiple razor blades made out of wind to attack her.

Totori calmly responded by raising a Time Litograph.

Time stopped. And she used the opportunity to leave the spot she was in as she was getting surrounded there, while at the same time activating her Heavenly Parasol like before, sending it up to the skies before it grew much larger.

Time resumed. And the elementals halted their attacks as they found out that their target had vanished.

“She's over there! It's a timeskip, remember?” Saphirette said to her elements. She could recognize that stone tablet anywhere.

Totori raised her staff. With it, she could aim her Heavenly Parasol's rainfall.

Raindrops fell from the sky; each one as sharp as a bullet.

“Up above! Block it, Gnome!” Saphirette instructed.

Gnome obeyed and immediately raised a thick earth wall to protect her and the other elementals.

Totori followed by using a Pinwheel, sending it around the earth wall as it didn't completely cover them. Sylph countered its rapid spinning wind by her own.

_ G-gah, that was close! _

Sylph was impressed by the strength of the wind magic, especially when she cast it so fast right after casting a strong water magic. She didn’t know all that mumbo-jumbo about her being an alchemist, but she knew that she was on-par, if not stronger, than your typical archmage.

_ To be able to cast elemental magic without any chants… it’s like she’s an elemental herself! _

Meanwhile, Undine, being the only one free and being the only one immune to the rain, decided it would be a good idea to counterattack.rain...

She went out of hiding and immediately began exerting her will over all the rainfall, ordering it to turn against their caster.

At first she could feel all the raindrops budging, but immediately a different will overrode her own, ordering the raindrops to stay at their current trajectory.

_ W-what? H-her control is stronger than mine? _

There were many anecdotes and tales of a mage challenging an elemental in control over her element, only for his spell to backfire at him. This was the first time her elemental control was beaten like this, and it surprised her to the core. She was no fledgling elemental. Saphirette had chosen her amongst all the other Undines, as the very best Undine she could find so that she could revitalize her country.

_ Fine! I’ll just attack her directly then! _

She launched herself towards her, intending to drown her in her waters. As she approached her, she fired off her own version of bullet raindrops from her body, while at the same time, using her arms to send water around her to her back; to trap her in place.

Totori blocked the bullets by calling down a waterfall in front of her. But she did nothing to block the water behind her, which gave Undine a large smirk.

_ Got you! _

From behind, Totori’s small body was swallowed by the waves, giving a surprised expression to the alchemist. Immediately she swung her staff to manipulate her Heavenly Parasol, sending the strongest water wave it could to her position.

_ Oh, I’m not letting you do that! _

Undine manipulated her water to smack the staff out of Totori’s hand before carrying it as far away as possible from her. But the effect already started, and the water from the parasol crashed into her own water, splitting said water into many parts that were interspersed with the parasol’s water.

However, the elemental was still at an advantage, as the control stick for Totori’s water was out of her hand. And she knew that very well.

She exerted her will once more, and this time, she could feel it working.

It was enough however to buy time for Totori to take out her strongest lightning bomb and detonating it right where she was. Its power was equivalent to at least a dozen lightning strikes.

A powerful surge of electricity spread right through the water. And, as the water was still connected to Undine’s body, it spread to her as well.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!”

The elemental screamed as the electricity hurt her. It was especially effective as she was made out of water. Her control of the water vanished, causing it to flow freely all over to the ground, dropping Totori’s body.

Of course, it also electrocuted the alchemist, But it was the only option she had.

Unfortunately for her, this time, she missed the mark in her prediction. She lost consciousness from it, making her automated healing Elixir not trigger.

Undine fell unconscious as well, with her water body shattering, creating a puddle on the ground.

Three more enemies. But the alchemist had already fallen. Her Heavenly Parasol fell down as normal water, having losing its controller.

“Undine!” Sylph flew towards the puddle where her friend used to be.

“You! You harmed my friend! I’ll never forgive you!” Gnome said as she tunneled towards Totori.

Only to find out that the girl was knocked out cold.

“W-we did it! We did it, Sylph!” she shouted with a big grin on her face. “She’s unconscious too from that attack of hers!”

“R-really?”

Sylph flew immediately towards her friend’s location. And sure enough, the alchemist was still there, lying down face first on the ground.

Saphirette smiled. Another alchemist for her.

And this time, she could corrupt her right away.

“DON'T YOU TOUCH MISS TOTORI”

A loud, almost deafening voice came out of nowhere, alarming the two remaining elementals and Saphirette herself. They immediately looked around, wanting to find the source of the voice.

“Over there! From the pie's direction!” Slyph shouted.

Saphirette squinted her eyes. Sure enough, there was something heading towards their direction.

It was another flying carpet. And on it, the pie alchemist and another, different girl.

It was Meruru.

She had arrived just a little later after Totori, but from a different angle entirely. So she managed to dodge the attention of the monsters, whom were occupied with the latter. She saw the giant pie and knew that Rorona must be nearby. She asked one of the surviving guards (who had been hiding in the fight) and they told her that Rorona was inside the pie, saved by it after she lost the fight.

Meruru wasn’t the one to dig out Rorona however. She did it herself, as she had recovered inside the pie. Rorona apologized, saying how she shouldn’t have been so careless.

And now, they were heading out to assist Totori, whom Meruru, with her binocular, had seen fighting the monsters.

Meruru checked again, only to find out that Totori was down on the ground, signifying her defeat.

Quickly, she hurried on with Rorona to save her teacher, even taking out a megaphone and shouting as loud as she could for the monsters to not touch her.

“Sylph, Gnome, distract them,” Saphirette ordered. “I’ll transform her in the meantime.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” Sylph replied. Gnome merely nodded on the other hand.

_ I will not waste this chance! Once she has become a monster, there’s no going back for her! _

She didn’t know for sure whether or not their alchemy was capable of reverse-monsterization. But from what her spies had reported, nothing of the sort existed. And she knew that the Order never had that capability either.

It would be checkmate for them. After this, they could just retreat if they must; Druella and her underlings be damned. They weren’t doing their job properly after all. They were supposed to distract and split the Arlandians, and yet they were gathering here.

With a grin, Saphirette floated over near Totori, before enveloping her with masses of tentacles from her lower half.

“Sorry that I couldn’t be gentler about this.”

And then, she began the monsterization process.

“Miss Totori!”

Meruru watched what was occurring from a distance, so she stepped on her magic carpet, demanding it to go faster. However, all of a sudden, a tornado blocked her path. She opened her bag and took out a Pinwheel to counter it, but the carpet she was standing on was soon sent off-balance by a spike of earth suddenly jutting out from the ground. Thankfully, the carpet didn’t fly above the ground too much, so she could land safely, with Rorona following her steps behind her.

“Totori, hold on! Your teacher is coming!” Rorona shouted, panic clearly showing on her face.

The attack from the ground didn’t stop however as Gnome tried to trip both alchemists as they ran towards their comrade. Meruru, being more athletic than the two, managed to dodge them by jumping nimbly, but it tripped Rorona, making her fall down to the ground.

“G-go on ahead, Meruru!” she shouted.

Now only the tornado stood between Meruru and her teacher. She activated her Pinwheel while running, creating a tornado of the same size to run counter to it. The two tornadoes crashed, nullifying each other.

_ G-gah, so strong! _

Sylph was thrown aside as her tornado was dispelled, thanks to her sitting in the middle of it. But there was still Gnome, and she would never let the alchemist approach her covenanter.

She created a giant earth golem as a last resort, intending to intimidate the alchemist from going further.

“I’ll blow you in one shot!”

Meruru indeed stopped, but only to place a Peacemaker down. The mushroom cannon fired and it annihilated the golem construct in one hit. And then, she continued her run.

_ W-what power! _

Gnome was out of options now. She could only pray her covenanter already finished the monsterization.

“Get away from her!” Meruru shouted, now in range for Saphirette to hear normally.

“Magic sword, attack!”

She summoned her magic sword. It grew to its giant size before slamming down on the Dark Matter.

It hit a barrier, created by Saphirette just in case something like this happened. Even her overcharged sword failed to pierce it, only managing to crack it a little.

Meruru didn’t wait until the sword vanished. She took out her most destructive weapon, her Peacemaker, and aimed it at the barrier.

It shattered it in one hit. Meruru charged in, ready to strike at the monster tormenting her mentor.

But it was too late, as the darkness enveloping Totori vanished, revealing that the monsterization process was complete.

“You’re too late, little girl,” Saphirette said with a giant smile.

Wings, tails, and horns. She had it all. Even her outfit was transformed into a darker, lewder look.

She opened her eyes.

It was the advent of succubi Totooria Helmold.


	24. Chapter 24

Darkness.

Undulating waves of darkness twisting upon one another, forming an unholy bond upon the flesh.

And she was sinking into it, going even further; even deeper; with each breath she took.

It wrapped around her; a gentle quicksand that did not allow for escape.

It was how the dream of one Totooria Helmold started.

Then, a flash. Her surroundings lit up. A whirlpool of memories sprung up.

The darkness searched. It desired a wish to grant.

...Nothing. It could find nothing. This person was perfectly content with her life.

How about suppressed desires? Did she possess them?

...Nothing. She was perfectly honest with herself.

Hidden, forbidden love?

...None. She didn't have any desire for romance.

Then, it would introduce her to that world.

...Oh, what's this? Her mind was resisting even without consciousness.

It's okay. Everything will be okay.

The darkness embraced and liberated all equally.

xXx

Saphirette half-regretted that she had to do the monsterization in a circumstance like this.

Normally, monsterization was a slow and pleasure-filled process, done not when the person monsterized was unconscious. They would take their time, as tentacles slowly caressed the monsterized.

But, time was not on their side. So she had to fasten the process as much as she could.

She ordered one of her tentacles to enter the alchemist's ear. It slithered inside with no problem, right into her skull.

And then, it transformed back into mana and sank itself to the hippocampus, the region of the brain that governed memory.

She intended to peek inside Totori's memories.

She had read many literatures and anecdotes about monsterization, and she knew that nearly all who were monsterized would have some kind of repressed desires or a dissatisfaction with themselves and their life. If she could grant them those, it would be almost guaranteed that they would become her ally. She even heard how some newly monsterized women would take the monster that had monsterized them as a surrogate mother of sorts. 

She skimmed through said memories. Once again, she didn’t have much time. She did this while the other tentacles wrapped all over the alchemist’s body, even to the point of entering her orifices, pumping her of her demonic energy. She surprisingly had far more spirit energy than normal. But it was nothing she couldn’t overcome. She would feed on that spirit energy while pumping back demonic energy to replace it.

She would’ve looked around for the knowledge on how to perform her alchemy, but that would take hours if not days to understand. And she clearly didn’t have enough time for that now.

_ Let’s see… starting from her childhood… seems happy enough, although her mother often leaves for months… _

_ Ah, here’s a tragedy. Her mother’s ship sank. She even lost her memories from it due to how traumatic it was. _

_ Then, happy memories of meeting with her teacher and her new friends. Hard times fighting monsters as an adventurer. Overwhelming sadness when after searching for her mother for years, holding on to the faith that she was still alive, only to discover that she had been dead all along. And then the determination to defeat the monster responsible and save the village under its thumb. _

_ And in the end, overwhelming happiness as her mother returned home. She was never dead after all. _

_ This girl… To accomplish so much in such a young age… If she had lived here, she would be some sort a genius hero for sure. _

Saphirette prodded her memories even more. There were some sufferings and troubles from the memories before but nothing that she couldn’t cope with in the end.

...Nothing. She couldn’t find anything. After that point it was mostly happy memories after the other.

She was perfectly content with herself and her life.

_ What a blessed life she had… It almost makes me feel jealous. _

_ If I couldn’t turn her this way, then I would just have to teach her the pleasures of the flesh she has been ignoring her entire life. I’m not skilled enough in memory modification to erase or modify her memories without risking making her forget everything. And I couldn’t have that. _

_ Besides, I find the whole thing distasteful. Erasing sad memories might be forgivable but erasing happy memories are not. _

_ Once she learnt of those pleasures, then even she would stop being content with her previous, human life. She would realize just how much better a monster life is. And how it is a gift to turn every human into monsters. _

_ Then she would raise her banner with us. That is certain. _

xXx

When Totori regained her consciousness, she could immediately feel there was something wrong with her body.

It felt more… energized. She could feel warm energy coursing through her veins.

She could feel the wings, tail, and horns now attached to her body. And she could control the movements of the former two freely.

Her body also felt more sensitive, with every touch sending shivers to her entire body.

And she felt a burning desire inside her.

“So, I've been transformed,” she said with a bitter smile. “I was careless.”

She then noticed Meruru staring at her.

“Oh, you're here, Meruru.” Her smile turned brighter. “My cute apprentice Meruru.”

“M-Miss Totori, are you alright?” she replied. Totori's smile had turned lascivious, and it genuinely frightened her.

“Better than ever,” she replied back, still with her ominous smile.

“Totori, noooo!”

Rorona finally arrived, and she was panicking even more by the sight of her transformed student.

“I-I was too late!”

“Oh, Miss Rorona is here too,” Totori turned her gaze. “Good. That means we can really finish off these invaders,” she said with a smile, turning towards Saphirette.

The Dark Matter's heart sank. She was afraid of this. Even though the girl now had the loving heart of a monster, she still retained her original, strong personality. She still saw her as an enemy.

“W-wait! Y-you're a monster now! Shouldn't you agree that it would be wonderful if this kingdom and everyone in it becomes a monster, just like you are?” she replied.

Totori tilted her head and pressed a finger to her cheek, thinking of her answer.

“Hmm, maybe… I do feel better in this new body… But that could be just because of the demonic energy warping my mind…”

“But it doesn't matter anyway. It's not like I need you to monsterize this country. And I wouldn't let you monsterize any of my friends either. I'll do it myself,” she said with an ominous grin. 

_ I see… Her protective nature is warped into a possessive one. There are indeed some monsters like that, though usually not a succubus. Unlike what stereotypically believed by humans, a monster can have varied personalities even when they're of the same species. _

_ Still, this is bad. I want her to teach me her alchemy yet she clearly wants nothing to do with me. I have to convince her somehow. _

“I-I wish to learn alchemy from you!” Saphirette continued. “So please! Come with me to my country! O-or you can teach me here! I don't mind!”

Totori paused again before answering.

“You know, I would have taught you if you just came here nicely. Instead, you just have to do all these things. So no. I don't want to teach you.”

“And besides, I want to test out this new body first. This warmth… and this yearning… I never care about things like this before but now…”

She turned to look at Meruru once more.

“Meruru… come over here…”

xXx

When Meruru witnessed the new form her master now had, she was made speechless.

She was definitely still Totori, but at the same time, she had a totally different presence to her.

The first thing that hit her was obviously the monster parts now attached to her body. It looked so alien on her but at the same time, the more she looked, the more she felt that it fit her.

Second was just how striking she looked.

She looked more sinister, but at the same time, she looked even cuter than usual. Combined, it was as if she was a tantalizing forbidden fruit, ready to poison you if you dared to take a bite.

And lastly, the way her expression and her speech had been. The soft-spoken girl had turned into a domineering sadist.

...Okay, that might be too harsh but that was really the vibe she had been getting from her.

It reminded her of the occasional times when the soft-spoken girl let out unexpectedly harsh words with a straight face. And she could be scary as well when she's angry, though thankfully, it was really rare for her to be so.

Did the monsterization bring that trait of hers up to the surface?

And now, she's telling her to come close, with a lascivious smile that sent shivers to her entire body.

Yeah, there's no way she's getting anywhere close to her.

“I-I'm sorry, Miss Totori, but I can't!” Meruru replied.

“Aaw, are you feeling shy, Meruru? It's okay. This is my first too. It would be a learning experience for both of us.”

And then, she leaped forward.

“Meruru, watch out!” Rorona shouted before throwing a bomb right at her own apprentice. It exploded, but she managed to defend herself in time with her hands and wings. When the dust settled, she wasn't wounded in the slightest, as her demonic energy had protected her.

.

“That… didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would,” the newly born succubus remarked. “I guess a monster’s body really is more durable than a human one.”

She already had experienced being on the receiving end of bombs before, as there were these squirrel monsters back at Arland who loved to steal explosives (amongst other things) from humans before using it in combat by themselves. Not to mention the three squirrel alchemists inside the distorted domain of Makina. That was a really heated alchemist vs alchemist battle.

“Totori, stop being such a bad girl! It doesn’t suit you at all!” Rorona said with an angry huff.

“Sorry, Miss Rorona, but I’m a succubus now. I can not be bad,” Totori replied with a smile.

Watching all this going on, Saphirette couldn’t help but smile as well. She had thought that the monsterized alchemist would still be going against her even after her monsterization. But now, she was actually going against the other Arlandian alchemists. Sure, she was still acting hostile against her, but this was good enough. Now, she had a good chance of monsterizing the other alchemists as well. And with all three, she would just bring them to a place with men around and their throbbing bodies would teach them a world of devilish pleasure they would never have imagined as a human.

And then, they would come around to their side. And they would surely teach her all their alchemy secrets.

“Alright, Gnome, Slyph, you two help Totori--”

Without warning, Saphirette suddenly felt sharp claws pressing to her neck.

“I told you not to interfere, didn’t I?”

Totori had moved right beside her.

And she was not amused.

“S-sorry, I just wanted to--”

“Leave. Now.“

She pressed her claws in slightly, causing light bleeding in the area affected.

“A-alright, I-I’ll leave…”

Even though she said that, she was just going to get out of the way to watch from a safe distance.

She was worried though, whether or not just she alone would be enough to fight against two alchemists at the same time. Sure, being a monster should give her more strength, but just taking down one alchemist was already a handful in her recent experience.

_ Oh, I should revive Ignis and Undine while I have the chance. _

Totori watched the Dark Matter leaving. In the meantime however, Meruru saw a golden chance to take.

Totori’s bag. It was currently not with her. Like with her staff, it was dropped down when the monsterization process happened.

If she could get that, it would prevent her from using her items.

She felt bad doing it, but it seemed a battle with her was going to be inevitable.

If they could just incapacitate her, she could keep her safe until Astrid came. She must know what to do!

Unfortunately for her however, Totori noticed out of the corner of her eyes. Or perhaps it was just her monster instinct.

Either way, she flew straight to Meruru from the side, knocking her down and keeping her there with her hands grabbing her arms.

“Now what is my naughty little apprentice up to?” she said to her with a ravenous expression on her face.

“M-Miss Totori--!”

Suddenly, Totori felt a heavy blow hitting her from the side. It threw her off Meruru and sent her flying off quite the distance.

Rorona had just hit her with her staff.

“Miss Rorona, g-get the bag!” Meruru said, pointing towards the object.

“R-right!” the older woman responded, before running as fast as she could towards it.

Totori already recovered however. And, noticing where her teacher was running towards, it all clicked on her head.

They were trying to steal her bag.

“I can’t let you do that!”

She dashed straight towards the bag as well, faster than Rorona as her wings gave her a boost.

“Got it!”

“Aaaah!”

Totori rammed Rorona, just in time to swipe the bag before her teacher could. She then immediately slung it over her shoulders, securing it with her.

And then, her heart froze.

In front of her was her teacher downed, staring at her with tears in her eyes.

“T-Totori…”

Flashes of memories surfaced into her mind. Memories of the first time she met her. Memories of the first time she taught her alchemy. Memories of how much she supported her, even if sometimes she didn’t go that good of a job in it.

Her old self won over.

“T-Teacher…”

She stopped in her tracks, bending over to help Rorona.

It was an opening that Meruru didn’t hesitate to exploit.

She used her Time Lithograph. Time froze and she used it to go to Rorona.

“Miss Rorona, we're teleporting out of here!” she said to her.

“But Totori—”

“No time to explain! Just trust me, okay?”

Rorona nodded right before Meruru activated her Warp Gate. Blue light enveloped the two, just in time before time moved again.

And then, Meruru's Ice Cascade Bomb erupted.

xXx

Saphirette could barely believe her eyes.

All of a sudden, there was a mountain made of ice in front of her.

It appeared in a flash of an eye, right where the alchemists once stood.

She remembered how Totori tackled her teacher, but after that, a burst of frost appeared out of nowhere right where they were, building on top of each other as well as spreading out in a large radius.

She could even feel the chills spreading here.

“Ignis, search the perimeter. And don’t just go charge in blindingly if anything appears.”

“Y-yes, master,” replied the elemental. She was still embarrassed by her previous blunder.

She flew closer and scanned inside the ice mountain for any signs of life. As she was the Element of Fire, she had learned to detect body warmth that most living creatures had.

“I-I found one!” she shouted back.

“Just one? Not three?” Saphirette asked back.

“Yes, just one!”

“Can you see who it is?”

“L-let me take a closer look!”

…

“I-it’s the succubus!”

Saphirette’s fear had come true. The other two alchemists had got her.

“Is there anyone else in there?”

“N-no! I can’t see any other bodies!”

And the other two somehow managed to get away.

…

_ Wait, this isn’t all bad. Totori is still alive. If I can thaw her, I can carry her unconscious body with me. _

_ Yes, that’s it! Then we can leave this godforsaken kingdom! _

“Ignis, thaw the ice! And be careful not to harm Totori in the process!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

xXx

“W-we made it! Whew, that was close!”

“M-Meruru! W-what about Totori?”

The two alchemists appeared inside the castle courtyard, as it was the nearest warp point they could take.

It was a truly a gamble by Meruru, what she just did.

First, she gambled on the Ice Cascade Bomb, the super freezing cold bomb that could freeze even an erupting volcano’s lava, to not kill her teacher. She knew that monsters were more durable than humans, especially with the existence of a god that tried to lessen the casualties of war to a minimum. A hyper frostbite might kill a human, but to a monster, they probably could survive in a sort-of hibernation state, kept alive by the demonic energy inside them.

Second was a gamble on the other monsters not being able to thaw her out and steal her before they could return with reinforcements. She knew the Ice Cascade Bomb had a continuous freezing effect. It would resist being thawed far more than an ordinary ice mountain would. That’s also why she couldn’t use her other, lesser ice bombs. They might be able to freeze Totori, but they couldn’t protect her.

Third was the gamble of them not being affected by the bomb before it exploded by teleporting away. Running away would be impossible as the range of the bomb was too massive to cover.

The third gamble had proven to work. Now they would just have to return there and prove whether the first and the second gamble would work as well.

But before that, they had to find Astrid first. If she’s not around, then they had to think up something themselves.

_ Oh please be back please be back I usually don’t like you that much but now I really need you so please be back _

Meruru explained what she just did to Rorona as fast as she could. To her relief, she didn’t react negatively to the idea of freezing her disciple with the strongest ice bomb in existence.

“T-then we should look for Master!” Rorona said, referring to Astrid.

“That’s what I think too. She must know what we should do! She’s the one who has been studying monsterization the most after all!”

“I just hope she’s here already... “

Suddenly, Rorona’s expression perked up.

“Meruru, look over there!” That’s Master, isn’t it? Master! Master!”

She ran as fast as she could to the figure in the distance. Meruru looked as well and sure enough, it looked like Astrid all right.

“Master! It’s an emergency! T-Totori, Totori has been turned into a monster!” Rorona shouted.

“Oh, Rorona, Meruru, you’re back,” Astrid said, noticing their appearance. “And what did you just say, Rorona?”

“Haa...haa...haa… T-Totori...Totori got monsterized!”

To Rorona and Meruru’s surprise, instead of turning into an angry frown, Astrid’s expression instead turned into that of a smile.

“Then I arrive just in time. You two, meet Lilihom.”

The two alchemists only now realized the young woman standing silently behind her.

“L-Lilihom? Is she a new homunculus, Master?” Rorona asked, identifying her long ears and red eyes.

“Indeed. Perfectly designed to counter monsterization. So go ahead. Lead me to her. I’ll cure her in a snap,” Astrid said with a confident grin.

Rorona and Meruru’s expression brightened considerably. Even though she was mostly an unreliable person, once push came to shove, she was the most skilled alchemist of them all, and they could always rely on that fact.

_ Wait for me, Miss Totori! I’m coming! _


	25. Chapter 25

“The melting process is going as slow as predicted.” 

“Then there is no cause for concern for the time being.”

The pair of homunculus that arrived with Astrid had arrived where Saphirette and the others were, and for a while, they had been taking the reconnaisse role. Wearing Camo Cloaks that allowed them to melt into their surroundings, they could watch safely from the distance using binoculars. They would have joined the fight if not for the fact that they knew they would just be outclassed by the elementals. All they had were some basic super strength after all, just enough that they could safely gather ingredients in the more dangerous places. Astrid had ordered them to not jump in fights they could not win, especially since they could end up just getting in the way. In an absolute emergency, they could forgo that rule, sacrificing themselves for their masters, but even with Totori being monsterized, they knew of LIlihom and that the monsterization could be reversed.

“No cause for concern, hmm? You guys sure are cold, huh?”

The two had been joined by Gisela, as well as Gio and Esty, who got there just after Rorona and Meruru teleported away. Gio and Esty had intended to take a wait-and-see approach as they knew Astrid was coming, after being informed on the ongoings by the two homunculus, but it was pure luck that they managed to get to Gisela before she decided to attack the monsters on her own. Surprisingly however, Gisela wasn’t that angry when she heard what had happened to her daughter.

“That glasses woman can revert her, right? Then there’s no reason to worry!” she said with a smile.

Esty did catch her giving a single murderous look towards the monsters before reverting back to her usual self.

“Mind you though that if there are any signs of the ice melting, I’m going in, whether you guys are with me or not,” she warned.

And so they decided to just watch from a distance for now.

xXx

“Overheat!”

Ignis crashed into the mountain like a miniature sun, showering its icy surface with an impressive amount of heat.

And yet, it still refused to surrender, only melting a little at the surface.

And Totori was hidden deep inside its stomach.

“Haa...haa...haa...haa…” The elemental panted. “Grrr, why must this hunk of ice be so tough?”

“Hmm, I believe this isn’t just some ordinary ice,” Saphirette commented. “It had a self-cooling effect. It’s as if it’s casting a continuous ice spell to itself. Truly fascinating.”

“Undine, can’t you do something?” Ignis asked, pouting.

“You know I can only manipulate water, not ice, right?” Undine replied. “And I had tried cutting it with a high pressure water blade, And it barely worked.”

“And my wind blades fared even worse!” Sylph interjected.

“How about you, Gnome? Got anything?” Ignis asked.

The elemental paused for a bit before answering.

“...I can’t manipulate the thickness of the ice for me to dig into it. And just chucking rocks into it didn’t work as well.”

“Hah, you are all useless!” Ignis raised her arms in exasperation. “Hey, how about you, witch?”

Mimiru, who only now had recovered from the elemental’s mishap from the fight before, was still lightly panting with a flushed face. Her entire body was soaked with the combination of her own bodily fluids and her tentacles.

“And here you are still being all bothered. Must be nice pleasuring yourself while others are still fighting.”

Ignis only said that as she was still annoyed from this fight taking so long. She wanted to hunt for her husband already, unlike this witch here who already had one.

“And whose fault is that?” Mimiru snapped back.

The little witch then looked at the giant hunk of ice before her. And she gave a good long stare to the still succubized Totori.

“Hmm, with her childish figure, I think she would be better off as a baphomet or a witch like myself. But I guess there’s no rule for a succubus to not look like mature, adult women,” she commented. “Nice job catching her without me, by the way,” she said to Saphirette. “Though you guys did mess up by letting her get frozen like this.”

“It’s not my fault. This girl is a stubborn one,” Saphirette protested. “She refused to work with me even after I converted her.”

“Hehe, so you got rejected,” Mimiru replied with a smug smile. “That's to be expected, really. Big boobed adults like you would never understand petite little girls like her!” she declared confidently. She didn’t know that Totori was already 25 years old, thanks to her youthful looks.

She then looked back at the mountain of ice before her.

“Hey, can’t you do a combination spell with your elementals?” she asked Saphirette.

“Hmm, that’s right. I haven’t tried that yet. Guard me while I chant the incantation.”

A combination spell is when an elementalist, together with his elementals, joins in to cast one huge spell. With how the covenant with a corrupted elemental worked, the combined force would be more than just the two’s power combined. However, the chanting time is quite long, especially when you add more than one elementals to the mix.

“I don’t see any Arlandians around, but I guess they could come back at anytime. Hmm, that hill over there could be a good hiding spot. Let me check that out.”

“Ignis, Gnome, we’re going to use Lava Spout,” Saphirette declared.

Saphirette then started the chanting. A large magic circle appearing beneath her, with two small circles engraved inside for her two elementals to stand in.

In the meantime, Sylph and Undine formed a double-layered water and wind protective sphere around their master, while Mimiru flew upwards to scout their surroundings.

“Hey, those are… The Arlandians! The Arlandians are here!” the witch announced as she discovered the homs’ hiding place.

“Well, so much for being stealthy,” Esty said with a sigh. “Only you two have those Camo Cloaks after all,” she continued, referring to the two homs.

“Now that we’re busted, I guess there’s no sense staying here,” Gisela said with a smile. “I’m going in from the front. You two could go from the back or whatever.

And with it, she charged right in towards the monsters.

“...You know, you two aren’t that much different,” Esty said to Gio with another, more exaggerated sigh. “Just charging in without any plans, troubling others that had to guard you.”

“R-really?” Gio coughed. “A-anyway, we should follow her. I’ll go from the right and you from the left.”

And the two departed as well, leaving only the two homs behind.

“Should we go too?” the female homunculus asked to her male counterpart.

“We can stay here if they don’t notice us,” he answered.

The two was still covered by the camo cloak, so there was a chance that whoever had spotted the others didn’t actually spot them as well.

Hearing Mimiru's warning, Undine and Sylph went into high alert mode as well.

“Undine! Typhoon Wall!”

“Right!”

The two used their full power to erect a massive swirling water cylinder all around them. Anyone who entered would be carried over and thrown around in circles with its insanely strong current.

Gisela knew that so she jumped and swung her scimitar downwards to slice the cylinder open.

To her surprise, it managed to resist her monstrous strength.

Her blade went through but not all the way down; the current heavily pushing against her. If it were any ordinary sword, it certainly would've shattered to pieces. But just like all of the Arlandians, her blade had far surpassed the limits of normalcy.

“Hah, not bad! A challenge at last!” she declared with a big grin as she exerted all her strength to push the water back.

“Move!”

She recognized it as the voice of Gio so she immediately backed off, just in time for the former king to finish her job of slicing the water wall.

“Now get in!”

“No need to tell me that.”

Gio entered first, followed by Gisela and then Esty, right before the cylinder fixed itself 

“What?! They got in?!” Undine exclaimed.

“Tch! Dispel the barrier! We're going to attack them straight on!”

“I’ll go hit the boss! You two can handle her minions!” Gisela said before running straight towards Saphirette.

“As if I’d let you!”

Sylph threw herself on Gisela’s path, creating a wind barrier around her. But Gisela simply swung her scimitar to create an opposing wind pressure, enough to throw her off her path.

“You guys really can’t be relied on anything, can you?”

Mimiru, who just finished her chant, conjured the thickest earth wall she could around Saphirette and her two chanting spirits. Gisela wasn’t daunted by this however as she once again just swung her scimitar to the wall, intending to cut it open. Every time she swung, pieces and chunks of rock and earth flew all around her.

“W-what is this woman’s strength?” Mimiru said in disbelief.

It was enough however for Saphirette to finish her spell.

Earthquake shook the ground, stopping the Arlandians on their tracks. 

And immediately after that, an eruption occurred.

The ground beneath the ice shattered open, as a massive surge of lava rose up, swallowing the ice mountain whole.

Saphirette smiled. This would surely melt the ice. And the best part was that she wouldn’t have to worry for the lava to burn her target into ashes, as similar to Ignis’ backfiring attack from before, it would only burn her inner passion in a violent and tempestuous manner. And since she should be unconscious, it shouldn’t have any effect on her.

“Tch, we’re too late!” Esty exclaimed.

“It’s fine!” Gio answered. “We just have to not let them take Totori!”

Gisela wasn’t finished however. After she dig through the earth wall, she immediately jumped towards Saphirette and swung as hard as she could at her.

“Master!” Ignis and Gnome simultaneously exclaimed.

Saphirette was fast enough to erect her barrier, but the sheer force actually threw her off her dark orb. The dark orb responded by sending a mass of tentacles towards Gisela but she cut them all with a single, powerful swing.

Ignis lit up and flew towards Gisela, but she was halted by Esty  Gnome tried to attack as well but Gio forced her out of the ground by a swing of his sword that tore the ground apart.

_ Time! I just need a little time! _

Saphirette was carried upwards back to her seat by the tentacles of her orb. Then, she used the tentacles to run as fast as she could in an awkward, almost funny sight.

“All of you! Guard me while I start the Warp spell!” she shouted as she scrambled towards where the now defrozen Totori was.

“Oh no, you don’t!”

Gisela chased after her. But she knew she wouldn’t make it on time as the tentacles could move her enemy surprisingly fast. The moment she saw that those disgusting things were about to grab her daughter, she threw her scimitar in a spinning motion. It curved to the side before curving back, just in time to shred those tentacles into pieces.

“You!” Saphirette said angrily. “You’re not taking away my prize! Not now, after all we’ve been through!”

She fired off a series of rapid thunder spells, making Gisela have to roll around on the ground to dodge it. She already predicted this however, so she sent her tentacles to catch her from the other side.

“Got you!”

The tentacles immediately wrapped around Gisela’s hands and legs, immobilizing her. She struggled at first, pulling and rolling around in an attempt to free herself. But it was too late. Saphirette wasn’t just using one tentacle to bind her. She used as much as she could, knowing just how monstrous her physical strength was.

“Grr, Totori!” Gisela shouted. “Wake up, Totori!”

The rest of her tentacles then grabbed onto the alchemist, who still remained unconscious.

_ Now, the Warp spell! It would take us right out of this place! _

She started her chant, focusing her mind on Polove, her homeland. Her elementals, as well as Mimiru, were still keeping the other Arlandians busy.

_ I can! I can make it! _

Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her. She reflectively formed more tentacles to assault them, only for an explosion to repel them.

Then, she received a strong punch to the head. As she was in the middle of chanting her Warp spell, she wasn’t fast enough to erect her barrier.

“Gah!”

She then felt the tentacles holding Totori being pulled. Some more Arlandians must have escaped her notice and now was trying to save their friend.

Unfortunately for them, they were nowhere near as strong as that monstrous woman from before.

She quickly recovered from her disorientation and wrapped even more of her tentacles around the intruder. And it turned out there were two of them. One male and one female. The female was behind her and the male was the one in front of her, trying to free the alchemist. Oddly enough, they had elven ears on them. So the Arlandians had elves in their ranks as well?

She would’ve gleefully monologued in front of their faces but she had no time to do that now. She had to warp, now!

Ah, that’s right, she could just bring them with her!

Maybe not the monstrous woman though. Too risky.

With a grin, she restarted her chant, focusing her mind towards Polove once more.

…

A rumbling.

She heard a rumbling coming right towards her from the left.

She turned her head, and saw a giant globe rolling straight towards her with an amazing speed.

Her eyes widened, and she quickly erected her barrier.

It crashed into her with a powerful force. But instead of losing its momentum and slowing down, it instead continued spinning towards her, increasing its velocity even more. Cracks began to appear in her barrier as her magic was slowly being overwhelmed by the object.

_ W-what is this? A-another one of their alchemy tools? _

And then, her barrier shattered.

She could feel her bones crack as the impact landed. The globe didn’t care of her dark orb who tried to soften the blow by attaching its tentacles on it. The spin made it impossible.

She was once again separated from her dark orb, with her and the orb flying towards different directions. The globe wasn’t finished however and it kept bulldozing her over and over and over again.

_ J-just a little more… j-just a little… _

She lost her consciousness.

“Sorry for taking so long!”

Astrid and the others had arrived. 

Her elementals sensed that their master had fallen, and immediately, they felt both panic and anger coursing through their beings.

_ Master! _ They all shouted in their heart.

“Now, why don’t the rest of you just surrender, hmm? Saves me the trouble of beating you guys up.”

They and the Arlandians stopped fighting momentarily to look at the newcomer. And immediately, the elementals realized how they were now in a major disadvantage, as a bunch of other Arlandians had arrived.

Astrid now stood in front of Saphirette’s wounded, limp body. And then, without hesitation, she declared, “Or else I will blow up your wonderful master into tiny little bits of dark matter.” As to accentuate her point, she took out a bomb out of her coat pocket and showed it off to the world.

“You… you evil--”

“Ignis, don’t,” Undine warned. “That woman certainly is going to do it.”

With that, all four elementals were immobilized. Astrid instructed for all four of them to be injected with her special anti-monster drug, slowly weakening them as their demonic energy turned into spirit energy that they could neither use or convert back. The drug was actually the proof-of-concept for Lilihom’s alchemical energy, proving that the manipulation of demonic energy through alchemy was feasible. It even worked on Undine whose body was just one big watery like substance. 

There was still one person who didn’t really care that much about Saphirette’s well-beings however.

“E-Elt-oniichan!”

Indeed, Astrid had brought Elt and Wilmarina along as well. There were a lot of space on top of her flying giant book after all. Astrid herself rode Lilihom’s dragon form however. She was a little bit faster than her book.

“M-Mimiru!” Elt returned, in relief that she looked pretty much unharmed.

She jumped straight into his arms, not caring that the enemy was still there. Elt embraced her awkwardly, while Wilmarina just looked with a mixture of relief and jealousy.

And then, Mimiru felt it. Her onii-chan… his embrace didn’t feel quite right.

And then, she realized that she couldn’t feel any demonic energy inside him.

“O-oniichan… w-what happened to you?” she asked.

“Mimiru… I… I’m no longer a monster like you,” he answered softly yet firmly.

“W-wha-what do you mean?” the witch replied with an aghast face.

“These Arlandians… they have transformed me… away from the Demon Lord’s influence…”

Mimiru couldn’t believe it. Yet it was undoubtedly true. She couldn’t sense any demonic energy from him.

_ B-but how? There is never a case in history of monsterization being reversed! Never! _

Only then she caught the sight of Wilmarina. Her eyes widened in shock once again. 

The former hero… she wasn’t a succubus anymore.

xXx

In-between the time after she was infused with alchemical mana and before Rorona and Meruru arrived, Wilmarina had decided that she didn’t want to stay being a succubus. “It doesn’t feel right,” she answered to Astrid when asked why she wanted to revert back to having a human appearance. Astrid warned her however that even after she reverted to the looks of a human, her body would still be filled by alchemical mana instead of the normal mana humans had in this world.

“It might make the usage of your divine skills impossible,” she told her.

“I’m alright. With what I had done, I doubt the Chief God still views me as one of her heroes,” she replied with a grim smile.

“And besides…” She took a glance at Elt. “I… never really wanted to be a hero in the first place.”

“I see…” Astrid replied with a smile. “I do have to remind you as well that you still keep your superhuman abilities and limits that you unlocked when the Chief God gave her blessing.”

Wilmarina nodded.

“And that there's quite a good chance that the Order would be looking for you.”

“Ah, of course…” she replied, looking down somberly.

Elt put his hand on her shoulder, giving her his warm and earnest smile. “Don't worry, Mary. I'll protect you. We can leave all of this behind and have a peaceful life somewhere else. Oh, how about this? We go to Zipangu and live there as ordinary adventurers. The Order shouldn't be able to reach us there!”

“Zipangu, hmm?” Astrid commented. “That could work. If you two stayed here, those Order zealots would no doubt put heavy pressure for us to hand you two over. And the rest of your friends for that matter.”

“R-right, the others… we can't just abandon them,” Elt replied.

“So you two should stay around for a while. Then you all could decide on what to do next,”

And so the two decided that they wanted to meet with their Lescatie friends first, and, if they could, persuade them to be purified by Lilihom.

xXx

“Y-you Arlandians! What did you do to Elt-oniichan?! I won't forgive you all for this!”

The little witch was experiencing anger, confusion, and fear all at the same time. Her eyes darted back and forth, switching between different Arlandians at a rapid rate. Her body was shaking as well.

“Now calm down, little girl,” Astrid said with a smile. “Here. I’ll allow you to watch our de-monsterization process. Behold! The future demon lord at work!”

_ The… future demon lord? _

She looked towards where Astrid was gesturing. There was Totori, still in her unconscious state. Instead of laying down on the ground however, she was now being cradled by some girl she had never seen before. She probably had come along with the alchemist.

...Wait, that face… she had seen it before somewhere…

“L-Lady Druella!” she shouted.

The girl didn’t respond however.

On second thought, she wasn’t acting like Lady Druella at all, even if she had her looks. Not to mention the modest dress she was wearing and the fact that she didn’t have any of her succubi characteristics.

“You… did you de-monsterize Lady Druella as well?” she asked with anger towards Astrid.

“Oh no, that’s not your Lady Druella,” Astrid replied with a grin. “That’s Lilihom, my ultimate homunculus; the one that shall replace Lilith as the lord of all monsters. Now watch as her unique demonic energy washes away her influence on her monsterized body!”

Mimiru could only watch in both awe and terror as Lilihom injected her mana into Totori’s body through simple skin-to-skin contact. Even from a distance, she could sense Totori’s demonic energy being devoured by this alien mana that she had never sensed before.

When her entire body was filled with alchemic mana, it was time for the reverse mutation.

Her tails, wings, and horns; all detached themselves from her body. Her sharp claws were reverted to normal human nails and her stronger bones and muscles reverted back as well.

And naturally, her mind turned back into her normal self once more.

“N-no way…” Mimiru said to herself.

“Indeed…” Astrid replied. “With Lilith out of the way, LIlihom could take her place and then send her energy to all existing monsters, filling them all with her own brand of mana.”

“S-so you want to turn every monster into humans?” Mimiru snapped back.

“Oh no, you misunderstand. Lilihom could indeed turn monsters back into humans, but all we desire is for Lilith’s succubus influence to disappear from all monsters. Lilihom’s brand of demonic energy is pure. It wouldn’t corrupt spirit energy, and it wouldn’t affect the mind with Lilith’s designs for a perfect lovey-dovey utopia as well. The worst thing that might happen is the increase in divorce rates, really,” Astrid explained cheerfully.

“That’s… I won't allow that!” Mimiru replied.

“Why not?” Astrid asked back.

If Mimiru still remembered the harshness of her human life, she would answer with that. But when Lucella transformed her, she erased all the bad and sad things, leaving only her fond memories of her onii-chan.

To be a true child that was doted by her onii-chan. That was her deepest desire.

“I-it would create a lot of unhappiness!” she replied. “A monster’s life is a life where everyday is happiness with your dearest husband!”

Astrid just smirked and said this in response.

“Too bad. I would never be happy in such a world. Lilihom, subdue her.”

“Yes, Master.”

The homunculus immediately leaped towards the witch with a surprising amount of veracity. Mimiru quickly responded by flying upwards, but not before Astrid’s giant book manifested above her and slammed her down to the ground. Lilihom quickly followed by pinning her down. And it was easy to do so as a witch’s strength was nothing compared to that of a dragon.

“L-let me go! Let me go!” she shouted.

The homunculus didn’t waste any time. She immediately injected her mana. Roughly, I might add, with her claws piercing through her skin and her mouth biting her in her neck. It was a necessary precaution as the opponent was still alive and kicking.

“E-Elt-oniichan! H-help! E-Elt-oniichan!”

She screamed and pleaded with tears in her eyes for her big brother to help her. The sight was hard for everyone present, especially Elt, who had to look away. The only exception was Astrid, who remained with a grin all the way through the process.

Mimiru could only look in despair as she witnessed her dear onii-chan abandoning her to the wolves. She could feel her strength waning as this foreign mana invaded her body. It triggered a flashback to when she was monsterized by Lucella. But that memory had become a pleasant one, while this, this wasn’t done gently in the slightest.

Eventually, she lost her consciousness, as the final remnants of her demonic mana was eaten away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If only the translation for elementalist magic spells comes out sooner, I would’ve added them into the story. What a shame.


	26. Chapter 26

And so ended the monster invasion of Myluca, with barely any casualties for both sides. It was the first monster invasion that got repelled in a long time, so the news spread fast to both sides and even in neutral lands like Zipangu.

The immobilized monsters were immediately purified. They then were kept in the guestroom wing in the castle, essentially as prisoners, but thanks to a word from Astrid, they were kept there comfortably instead of being shoved into the dungeon prisons.

Of course, they were interrogated by the kingdom’s guards for their involvement in the attack. And most of them answered their questions in earnest.

And just like Elt and Wilmarina, every single one of them now had to re-examine and re-think their lives.

The Dark Matter Saphirette had brought with her had the easiest time. She had an innocent mind, having being alive as a freely wandering Dark Matter ever since she was born. She just wanted to stay with her newly found husband, and said husband agreed with her.

Speaking of Saphirette, her elementals had an easy time as well. They all decided to remain loyal to her, although now they didn’t have the same urge to find a husband as they did before they were purified.

As for Saphirette herself, after having a closed door conversation with Astrid and her three apprentices that went on for hours, with Astrid mostly taking the lead, she was convinced to switch sides and join the Arlandians. With one condition of course. That they would teach her everything they knew about their alchemy and that they would share some of their alchemical tools to help Polove prosper. She did it out of pragmatism first and foremost however, as Astrid had managed to convince her that their alchemy was just as good as demonic energy at turning a country prosperous. Not to mention the fact that she was absolutely amazed by the creation of Lilihom and how Astrid had managed to create her own unique type of mana. 

And Astrid was just fine with that.

Oh, and the dark orb she always sat on was now an orb of pure alchemical energy instead. It now had a clear color, so it was almost like she was sitting on a bubble.

Astrid had offered to turn her back into a human, but she refused, saying she was already used to this form of hers 

xXx

Next on the line was Mimiru.

When she first woke up after being purified, she was scared out of her mind, even though there weren't any Arlandians around and that her onii-chan Elt was there. It took a while for Elt to be able to calm her down.

“W-why didn't you save me back there, onii-chan?”

That question pretty much pierced the young man's heart. He couldn't really answer it. He couldn't just say, “It was for your own good”, could he?

In the end, their relationship became strained as a result, with Mimiru no longer trusting Elt as much as she used to.

And certainly, she didn’t trust the Arlandians either. Not after they had killed Lucella.

She had formed a bond similar to a mother and a daughter with her when she was monsterized by her. So to hear that she had been killed, it was quite the shock to her.

She was now truly alone.

xXx

Speaking of killing, there was of course, the matter of Francisca’s semi-accidental death.

Meruru’s Peacemaker’s overwhelming power was too much for her. The alchemist had miscalculated.

But on the other hand, logically speaking, it was the best path for her to take. She only had one single Ice Cascade Bomb with her; the only other way she could safely fight her. With it, she could have frozen the entire roper forest she had conjured and then blew her main body up directly with a different bomb.

But if she had used it there, who knew what would have happened to the monsterized Totori? They wouldn’t have been able to stop her and if she had gotten the taste of intercourse, she would’ve turned against them and went over to the monsters’ side.

Still, murder was murder. And it weighted heavily on the young alchemist’s heart.

“I-I’m so sorry!”

She bowed as deeply as she could in front of the Fallen Maidens and Saphirette. Her expression was entirely genuine. She didn’t care that they were technically still her enemies, or that it was her only choice. And she certainly didn’t care of her status as a former princess.

“A princess apologizing for killing another princess… It’s quite the irony,” Saphirette commented. Out of the entire people in the room, she was probably the least distraught by Francisca’s death, only beaten by Astrid. She hadn’t met her for long, but she had heard of her life before the fall of Lescatie, and it was enough to make her be sympathetic to her.

“Y-you murderer! I’ll never forgive you!” Mimiru shouted.

“Yeah! Ask forgiveness from her in the afterlife!” Primera shouted as well.

Hearing that, Meruru’s eyes began to water.

Koyoi and Merse remained quiet, not knowing what to say. As warriors, they both knew that death could happen in the battlefield. They couldn’t blame Meruru in earnest like the more childish Mimiru and Primera did.

Sasha on the other hand just sat there, deeply in her own thoughts. She had been like that ever since she regained her consciousness after her purification.

Elt and Wilmarina were more sympathetic towards the alchemist. Their memories told them all the things the roper princess had done to the maids and noble girls of Lescatie and they couldn’t help but to feel disgusted by it. They could understand why Meruru wouldn’t want to take any risks fighting against her, opting for the safest option by just blowing her up from a safe distance.

Not to mention Elt’s weakness to girls in general. Especially when they cried.

“I-it’s alright! I-It was an accident, right?” Elt said to Meruru.

Naturally, those words only made Mimiru hate him even more.

In the end, her apologies didn’t really win over most of them.

xXx

Merse was conflicted.

Her purification had returned to her the shame she used to have when she was a human. And that made her feel embarrassed beyond belief every time her thoughts returned to her love-filled days with Elt.

_ To think that I had done all of that with one of my subordinates… And so shamelessly too… _

However, she felt no shame for the love to her newborn baby. Even though demonic energy no longer remained in her veins, she still kept the belief that there was nothing wrong with womanhood or being a woman in general.

But, she also still held the belief that human women were weak in both mind and body.

When she was monsterized, her memories of her abusive mother was not erased, unlike Mimiru. So she still held a strong dislike towards human women, and the belief that it would be better if they would to be all become monsters.

It wasn’t a belief that was constantly reinforced by the presence of demonic energy. Druella simply made her embrace her deep seated distrust towards human women wholeheartedly.

And so, she couldn’t really support the Arlandians’ efforts of stopping monsterization. Not to mention her baby was still in Lescatie, and if she were to join the enemy, that would mean she wouldn’t be able to return there anymore.

“So she refused your offer.”

“Unfortunately, it seemed so. She was quite the stubborn woman.”

“Then let me have a talk with her. Mother to mother, you know.”

After her fruitless one-on-one talk with Merse, Astrid was halted in her way back by Gisela, who immediately asked about the echidna. It seemed she had taken an interest in her.

Astrid sighed. “Very well. Tell them I give you permission. And please try not to beat her up or anything like that.”

“Hey, what kind of a person do you think I am?” Gisela protested.

“A really rough and tempestuous one,” Astrid replied with a smile.

And so Gisela went to the castle to have a little chat with Merse. She didn’t get a warm welcome from the echidna of course, who received her with a scowl. It wasn’t just because she had lost terribly, it was more because Gisela was just the type of person that she could never get along. Just seeing her grin, which she was doing right now, was enough to annoy her greatly.

“So, how are things?” was the first words she said when she entered the room. She said it so nonchalantly too,, as if she was greeting a good friend and not an enemy.

She then took a seat on the sofa in the room across the echidna, and then casually crossing her legs afterwards.

“Couldn’t have been better,” Merse replied with the heaviest dose of sarcasm she could give.

“Ha, is that so? Good to know!”

It seemed Gisela didn’t pick up on her sarcasm. That, or the more likely option of her intentionally ignoring it just to annoy the echidna more.

“So, still think human women are inferior to monster women?” she asked bluntly.

“Hmph, your attitude certainly isn’t helping your case,” Merse replied. “And the glasses lady from before told me you’re the only mother in the group. The rest of the females in your group are unmarried single women.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, that means you Arlandians don’t value motherhood that much after all.”

Gisela could only reply with a sigh.

“I take it you need proof that us Arlandians can be good mothers? Fine then. Why don’t you ask my daughter about me directly? I’ll send her to you. Then you can ask her all sorts of things about me.”

And with that, Gisela rose up and left the room, not giving another look towards the echidna.

Her meeting with Totori went for much, much longer.

She had heard how the alchemist was monsterized then turned back into a human by whatever magic the Arlandians had. But seeing and talking with her up close like this, there were no traces of her monsterization whatsoever.

And to her surprise, the girl was absolutely honest with all the flaws her mother had.

Even brutally honest at parts.

She could tell that Gisela hadn’t told her to just say good things about her. For Lilith’s sake, the very first thing she mentioned about her mother was just how much a violent, rambunctious troublemaker she could be. And then there was her admitting how often her mother left home to go on her own adventures.

But even with all that, she could see that the girl still loved her very much indeed.

“Don’t you ever think she selfishly chose her adventuring over you and your family?” she asked her.

Putting her left hand on her cheek, she answered, “Hmm, not really. Sure, it got lonely sometimes, but I had Ceci and Dad. And we all don’t want to get in the way of her dream. I’m sure that she always thought of us whenever she went on her adventurers. It was the same for me when I started my adventuring career as well.”

When their conversation was over, she realized her defeat.

Totori had proven to her that even with all the flaws of a human women, Gisela could still be a good mother.

No, to be more accurate, Totori loved her even more thanks to all her flaws.

And so, when Gisela did her second visit, she said to her, “Fine. You win. I lose.”

With a wide grin, Gisela replied, “So, you’re admitting that us human women can be good mothers as well?”

“Hmph, maybe, in your case,” she replied grumpily. “But your plan would still do more harm than good to families everywhere. I’ve heard about your plan from that Astrid woman. With your so-called ‘alchemical mana’, every female monsters out there would have the same weak mind as you female humans. They would only become monsters in body and shape only.”

“I see,” Gisela replied. “So you still believe in the Demon Lord’s plan, even after losing the influence of her succubi mana. But if you truly believe that, then surely your mind now is similar to that of a weak human woman.”

To Gisela’s surprise, the echidna suddenly gave her a scary, murderous glare.

_ I guess she’s really that offended to be compared to a human woman _ , she thought to herself.

Merse then put her left hand on her right arm. Gripping it so tightly, she answered, “Whatever your folks did to me was vile, Arlandian. You bunch erased my love for dear Elt!”

Hearing that genuinely took Gisela aback.

“I no longer feel that undying passion for him I always feel ever since I became a monster! My loving instinct… you erased it!  I… I’m no longer a good mother and wife for him!”

Her entire body was shaking, and her eyes were glaring both in total fear and anger. Memories of her mother returned to her. She had tried to suppress it all this time, but now, it all came out in full force.

With a smile, Gisela said, “You’re afraid of turning into your mother, aren’t you? You really are a weak person.”

Still shaking, Merse replied, “I-I am not her! I will never be her!”

Gisela paused, raised up from her sofa and walked towards the window. The day was bright outside and from the window, she could see the gardens clearly. There were butterflies flying all around the flowers planted there.

“I cannot help you with that,” she then spoke. “To cast away your past and walk towards the future with your own strength, that’s something you have to do for yourself. But I’ll tell you one thing. You’ll never be a good wife nor mother if you can’t do it.”

She then walked back towards her. Crossing her arms under her chest, she then said, “But you still love your daughter, don’t you? Perhaps your love for your husband is influenced by the demonic energy that used to flow inside you. But the love for your child is pure, out of your own instinct of a mother. Humans have that instinct too, you know. Even a rambunctious, violent person like me always thinks of her cute daughters every time she leaves in her adventurers. And of course, I always think of my husband as well. Here’s a fun fact. He’s the kind of softie who people barely pay any attention to. Even my daughters often forget to notice his presence. But me? I always know he’s there. Every single time without fail. You don’t need me to tell you why, do you?”

And then, she placed her hand on the echidna’s shoulder. Merse could only freeze in shock from her words.

“I know that you don’t need to be a monster to be a good woman. I am the living, breathing proof of that. And now, it’s up to you to decide whether I’m speaking the truth or not.”

And with that, GIsela left the room.

Leaving the echidna many, many things to ponder on her own.

xXx

Primera’s dilemma was of a different, yet somewhat similar kind to the echidna.

She too didn’t trust the future the Arlandians presented.

Her desire was to unite all the races and eliminate all prejudices. And to accomplish that, everyone must all become monsters.

But the Arlandians wanted to put a stop to that.

Or so she thought.

“Oh, we don't necessarily want to stop everyone to become monsters, if that's what you believe our goal is. We are quite different from the Order, you know,” Astrid explained with a sly smile.

“What do you guys want then?” the half-elf replied angrily. She didn't like at all how this woman in front of her was playing coy with her. “You're certainly acting just like those zealots in the Order!

“If we were, you and your friends would've been executed already. Burned alive, perhaps. I hear it's quite the popular punishment for actively invading monsters,” Astrid responded with a smile.

“Hmph! Then you still share the same goals as them. The extermination of all of us monsters. That must be what you guys want!” the werewolf pointed angrily at the alchemist.

“Oh, stop being such a child and calm down,” Astrid replied with a stern glare. It was enough to scare the monster into calming down slightly.

“Good,” Astrid returned to her smile. “Now, I shall tell you everything about our goals and plans.”

Of course, by that, she didn’t mean telling her all the details that they would do after this. She only gave her the general plan, about Lilihom replacing Lilith and the effect of alchemical mana.

When the alchemist was finished, Primera had calmed down entirely. Now she was buried in her own thoughts, trying to process what she just told her.

“As you can see, our goal is beneficial to all, both to monsters and humans,” Astrid continued. “I heard from the book the Wandering Scholar had made that you wanted a world without prejudice between differing races. And you wanted to do that by turning everyone into monsters.”

“Yeah, so? There’s nothing wrong with that!” she snapped back.

“Indeed, I agree. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that,” Astrid replied with a smile. “What’s wrong though was your desire to forcefully turn everyone into a monster. Keyword being ‘forcefully’. Like I’ve said before, Lilihom had the capability to turn humans into monsters as well. And we plan to let anyone who wish to do so to go to her and then get transformed by her.”

“Hmph, as if most humans would willingly transform themselves into monsters. They don’t know what’s good for them! They eat up the Order’s propaganda, thinking being a monster is a wretched existence even though it’s a much more wonderful one. And it’s not just the humans either. Those elves… they look down at any races different than them. They would never willingly turn themselves into monsters either. They would rather remain their prejudiced selves until the very end,” she replied angrily. “For a pleasurable, happy, wonderful world to be a reality, everyone must become a monster,” she continued with shining eyes.

“And your plan of lifting Lady Lilith’s influence, that would make everything worse! Monsters that came from humans would go back to their old, prejudiced, stupid ways without her guidance! Just like my old self that used to hate my half-elf blood and my parents for conceiving me. I was so blind back then. I didn’t realize that it was society that was wrong, that my parents’ love were pure. Only until I became a monster that I could realize that.”

The half-elf panted in exhaustion, tired from speaking so passionately towards the alchemist.

“So, are you back to your pitiful, self-hating self?”

“Huh?”

“After being purified, you are now free from Lilith’s influence. So, I ask. Are you back to your pitiful, self-hating self?”

Primera paused, looking down at herself.

No, she didn’t feel a single hate or disgust towards herself.

And she still loved her parents and their forbidden romance, just like as she should be.

“See? It’s not Lilith’s influence that freed that stubborn mind of yours. It’s yourself. You simply gained a new perspective once you became a monster. Well, she might have given you quite the hard push there though…”

Astrid took a sip of her coffee. She was always more of a coffee person than a tea person. 

“Do you know why we’re not trying to conceal Lilihom’s existence? In fact, we’re doing the opposite. We’re trying to spread the word as much as possible.”

“No, I don’t. Why?” the half-elf asked with a pout, out of words after Astrid had just proven that her assumptions were wrong.

“Because we’re trying to turn the established order of this world upside down,” Astrid answered with perfect calmness. “It’s not just you monsters that would be affected. The humans of this world would be affected as well.”

“W-what do you mean?” she asked, ears perking up in curiosity.

“Arland is a nation that never has the history of prejudice in its history. As we gain more and more influence in this world, the more the people here would share our beliefs and values. We’re opening a permanent trans-dimensional gate from here to our world soon and with that, a lot more Arlandians would come to this world. And displaying Lilihom to the world is part of increasing that influence. Do you know how miraculous it is to be able to turn a monster back into a human? Everyone will turn to us as the solution to the monster menace. Even those zealots at the Order and those elven snobs wouldn’t be able to deny our power.”

She paused, taking another sip of her coffee.

“You know where I’m going with this, don’t you?” Astrid said with a grin.

Primera couldn’t help but feel fear towards the woman in front of her once more.

_ Dangerous! _

_ This woman is definitely dangerous! _

“And, before you say, ‘How do I know you Arlandians aren’t prejudiced at all?’, I’ll give you permission to go to Arland yourself once we get the trans-dimensional gate running. Feel free to stay there however long you want. You can’t spread around Lilith’s corruption anymore after all.”

And yet, she couldn’t help but feel tempted by her offer.

_ N-no, you can’t go along with her plan! Remember! Her pupil’s pupil’s pupil killed Francisca, and yet she’s not angry at her in the slightest! _

“N-no! You guys are willing to kill! Us monsters would never kill the humans we attack!” she replied back in her last, desperate stance to be defiant.

Astrid merely sighed in response.

“Of course we are. Arland is a land plagued by monsters. We’ve been killing them for all sorts of reasons throughout our history, from pure self-defense to obtaining parts of their bodies to be used or sold. We know the monsters in this world have a lot in common with humans, so we would try not to kill them if we could. But there are limits to how much we could hold back. Our weapons aren’t made out of convenient materials like your Demon Realm Silver. It would actually hurt and destroy. Especially weapons created out of alchemy. Alchemy is both the power of creation and destruction. We create tools to help people while destroying any menace that threatens them.”

“H-ha! That only applies to monsters! You wouldn’t dare to kill humans! You’re just being prejudiced like any other humans!” Primera replied passionately.

Astrid paused before answering, taking another sip from her coffee.

“Here’s another fun fact. Arland hasn’t had a war in centuries. Only now with us doing this that we got this close to an all-out war against a foreign nation,” she explained. “If the Order were to decide we were being too heretical, launching a crusade against us, we would defend ourselves of course. But, humans aren’t built with the same toughness as you monsters. I could just make a massive gas bomb that would put every single of their soldiers into a deep sleep. And then, the war would be over. But you monsters would recover from that with your amazing recovery abilities pretty quickly, not to mention that you might just outright resist it right away. So we had to use harsher means to defeat your kind.”

She took yet another sip of her coffee, finally finishing it until the bottom was empty.

“I-I heard from Elt that you planted a bomb inside Lady Druella! Not to mention your cruel treatment of her! How would you justify that?” Primera asked again.

“Oh, that,” the alchemist answered nonchalantly. “She’s a really dangerous personage to have around. The bomb was an insurance that she would never be able to escape. The Order sometimes had monsters captured instead of killed, and it would only end up with them corrupting and running away with the men guarding them. Her terrible treatment was also part of that. I wish to drain her strength without actually killing her. She had provided me so many research opportunities on how the monsters in this world functioned. Not to mention how her bodyparts contributed massively to the creation of Lilihom, which was why she had her likeness.”

“In short, I was treating her like a really dangerous alchemy specimen. It was just what she deserved for trying to corrupt my dear Rorona,” she added with a smile.

And for the third time, the half-elf shivered in fright in front of the alchemist.

_ T-this woman! She’s definitely, absolutely dangerous! _

_ I… I should play along for now! J-just from that look, if I made her mad, I would-- _

She didn’t dare finishing that train of thought.

In the end, that final answer was enough for her to decide to agree with Astrid’s plan. Not because she switched sides to the Arlandians or anything. It was just for her to play along. Once she was out of here, she would definitely run back to the monster territory with the others.

_ Wait, I have been eating and drinking the food given by the Arlandians. D-don’t tell me she spiked them with another bomb? S-so if we defect back to the monsters, it would activate, killing us instantly? _

_ N-No, that can’t be right. My body didn’t feel anything weird entering it. With my mana, I should be able to-- _

_ Oh, that’s right, my mana now came from them too! So I couldn’t really trust it! _

_ O-oh no, w-what should I do? _

Astrid smirked seeing Primera’s frightened expression. She could pretty much guess what she was thinking right now.

“Well, I’m leaving now. Just relax for a while until the gate is ready,” she said with a smile as she took her leave.

_ I didn’t really mean to frighten her, but if her own imagination did my work for me, I’m not complaining at all. _


	27. Chapter 27

_ Monsterization… What a horrible thing to happen to you… _

_ And Astrid’s words… spreading alchemy to this world… I’ve been so busy with everything that I never have thought about it seriously... _

Totori was now sitting on her bed in silence, deep in thought after her little conversation with Astrid, who had just left. She came out of nowhere in the morning, asking her to describe everything that she felt when she was turned into a succubus.

“It’s purely for a scientific purpose, of course!” she declared with a big grin on her face.

Totori could only sigh, knowing that she couldn’t really refuse her.

And so she proceeded to describe everything that she could remember from that short time. To her chagrin, Astrid asked for her to give the very most detailed description she could give.

“I… I felt… heat… all across my body…” Totori said slowly.

“I see… I see.. Mind describing that heat?” Astrid asked with a smile.

“Well… you know, it’s… it’s  _ that _ kind of heat…” Totori replied, blushing.

“A permanent state of need, Makes sense,” Astrid replied. “It makes sense that they would have it. Continue.”

“My mind felt… light…and free… I...I felt like I could do anything I desired…”

“A decrease in self-inhibition. Continue.”

“Then, I saw Meruru. A-and I… I thought she looked so cute to the point that I couldn’t help myself assaulting her…”

At this point, Totori’s face was the reddest it had ever been.

But it wasn’t just from embarrassment. It was from regret and guilt as well. She knew that she did it all under the influence of demonic energy, but it was still something she could never imagine herself being capable of doing.

“Don’t feel too bad,” Astrid suddenly interrupted her train of thoughts, still as cheerful as ever. “It was just as I would expect from a succubus. They do attack human women as well, you know. Oh, speaking of that, did you feel any desire to have intercourse with a male as well?” she asked bluntly.

“Wha-what!” Totori replied, her fluster returning to her.

“Think again. What your thoughts were back then.”

Totori paused, lowering her head.

“I...I think I did…” she answered, still with a lowered head (and a lowered voice). “It was like… a curiosity. A burning curiosity that I wish to fulfill…”

“I see…” Astrid nodded. “Thankfully, you never had a crush on any man, or else I’m sure you would’ve flown to him straight away. And if that happened, my two other pupils probably wouldn’t be able to restrain you in time. It was fortunate that your target was them. That, and the fact that there were no men nearby.”

With a smile, she continued, “Your utmost interest in alchemy saved you. Us alchemists used to be viewed as witches in the past by the ignorant masses, but there were some truth to their prejudice. We indeed are quite different from the common human women. Even the heroes of this world, chosen by the gods themselves, couldn’t escape from their common humanity that the monsters preyed upon. Alchemists on the other hand tend to be weirdos who never cared much of worldly things.”

Totori remembered way back when Esty asked when she was going to get married. And how she just answered that it wasn’t for her.

She thought of her master Rorona. Even at her age, she was still acting like that. She was sure the thought of marriage or settling down never really occurred to her.

Then she thought of her pupil Meruru. When she was still a princess, she acted nothing like how a princess usually should act. She was a big tomboy and she never cared much about being presentable in front of the nobles of her kingdom. She was straight as an arrow, helping the people of her kingdom in her own way, all with a pure heart (even though her butler took care of all the paperworks).

And Astrid, well, she didn’t really need to think to know what a bizarre, outlandish woman she was.

“Hey, you were thinking something bad about me, didn’t you?” Astrid suddenly said to her.

“A-aah, n-no! Not at all!” she quickly replied.

As usual, the woman just knew whenever anyone thought badly of her.

Astrid then put her hand on Totori’s shoulder, to the latter’s surprise.

“I heard your next goal in life was to spread alchemy everywhere. Perhaps this world is more in need of it than back home. I believe the true chosen ones, if I may borrow such a pretentious term from the people of this world, are the ones chosen by alchemy to inherit its wisdom and knowledge, not by the gods. There might be only a few of them, perhaps even less than the already limited supply of the so-called heroes, but if you could introduce them to alchemy, they would surely become gifts to this world. It might be hard to find them however, with how the society of this world is. You need to have an open mind to become an alchemist after all.”

“Oh, but of course, you’ll be the one to teach them all. I’m not that much of a teacher, you see,” Astrid added with a grin.

She most likely was just too lazy to do it.

“...And you just think something bad about me again.”

“S-sorry!”

And so their abrupt and sudden meeting ended, leaving Totori deeply in her own thoughts, thinking about her own future and what she would do after all of this were over.

xXx

Koyoi was conflicted, to say the least.

Now that the corruption was lifted off her, she didn’t know what she should do next.

She had abandoned her duty as a monster slayer, and chose to support the world of monsters Druella had envisioned.

And her reasoning for it didn’t just come from her monsterization. Even now, after losing the influence of Lilith, she still couldn’t return to her old teachings that everything monsters did were foul and to be scorned.

She still believed the new, demonic Lescatie to be a better place to live than her old homeland.

However, she could no longer believe that it was the utopia she always thought it to be.

On the other side, there were the Arlandians. Strangers from another world that possessed great strength that the Order nor the many monster-hunting clans of Zipangu had never had

She had been defeated by one of them, and she did it without even being a hero while she had the dark blessing given by her new monster body.

When she asked the lady later on when they happened to pass by, she merely answered with a smile, that it was all because of her training as a knight of Arland.

“B-but there’s no way you could be that strong just through training! I’ve trained all my life ever since I was a child in the art of monster slaying and I’m nowhere near as strong as you!”

“Well, that’s all I did,” Esty replied with a shrug. “Maybe you’ve been trained improperly? For example, I am suited more for a fast and acrobatic fighting style so I trained myself on that style, instead of forcing to wield a heavy sword or something like that.”

Her answer did not satisfy her at all. She knew perfectly well that her training wasn’t wrong. There must be something else that is different between the two of them!

She only got her answer when she got her chat with Astrid.

“Tell me, are you familiar with a certain heretical theory that says how the gods are limiting humanity’s potential to develop their strength?”

That was the first time she had ever heard of it.

“Basically, it states that instead of elevating humans into superhumans when the gods give their so-called hero blessings, it instead only lifts the limiter put on said human  This also happens when a human turns into a monster, by the way,” Astrid explained.

Koyoi’s fox ears perked up as she listened with great interest. 

“So, my theory is that us Arlandians never received said limit. Thus allowing us to go far further above the level of an ordinary human without any help from the gods. We come from a different world that has no such gods after all.”

“I see…” Koyoi replied. “Would it… would it be possible for me to visit your world?”

“Oh, you’re interested?” Astrid replied with a grin. “I guess it’s about time Arland expands its tourism industry to other worlds as well.”

And so a deal was struck. She would be allowed to visit, as long as she wouldn’t cause any trouble there. Koyoi promised, swearing upon her honor that she would only be there to look and judge whether or not the kind of land the Arlandians wanted to create was worthy of her support. She still desired a land of peace with no fighting, where everyone could live with smiles on their faces with their beloved ones.

“Arland is a land like that, I suppose,” Astrid commented. “Though I wouldn’t say there are no fighting. Monsters are still decently common in the Arland wilderness, even with all the expansion the republic has been doing lately. And there would always be the occasional bandits and highway robbers, though most of them had been hunted down by the Guild. But personally speaking, a land without any fighting would be terribly boring. And Arland does need the monsters for their feathers and tails and such so turning them extinct would actually be a bad thing.”

Koyoi didn’t say anything in response, taking notes of everything the alchemist had been saying instead.

“And swearing upon your honor, hmm? I thought you already decided to leave all that stuff behind,” Astrid asked with a curious smile.

“I---” Koyoi replied, pausing. “I don’t know… There are many things wrong with how things are done in my clan but I no longer believe everything about it is bad. I would wish to reform it one day...”

She then looked up and faced Astrid straight in the eye.

“That’s why I wish to know your kingdom and its people. Perhaps… it might lead to the answer I seek.”

“A soul-searching trip. I see. Then, I wish you good luck.”

Astrid offered her hand to Koyoi, which the latter cautiously accepted.

“Oh, and one more thing. This is just a warning but travelling around with those tails and ears, you would get quite the attention. Do you want Lilihom to revert you back to a human first?”

Koyoi paused before answering, “No. I wish to test just how tolerant your people really are.” Astrid had told her how there wasn’t any history of discrimination in Arland and now she wished to put that to the test

“Suit yourself,” Astrid said with a smile. “Don’t blame me if you got little kids all crowding over you to strike those fluffy tails.”

xXx

Out of all the other Fallen Maidens, Sasha was easily the one most burdened by her purification.

Not only that she had surrendered to her desires, even though she was supposed to be a devoted servant of the Chief God, she also brought others into her depravity.

And the worst thing about it, was that she did it to her own children; the very same children she was supposed to take care of in the orphanage.

Overt sexual acts were already a major taboo in her beliefs, but for children to engage in such a depraved act… it was a sin grave enough to blacken even the heavens itself.

And she allowed it. Encouraged it. Corrupted them into wanting to do it.

And she did it all with a smile.

It didn’t matter if she was influenced by the Fallen God or not. In the end, it was her who did it. All her decision. She wasn’t forced in the slightest. She did it all on her own will.

It was enough to send the fallen nun into a deep chasm of despair.

_ Lisia… Emiyu… And all the other children… I-I’m so sorry…  _

_ And Elt… Oh, Elt… I… I don’t deserve you in the slightest… _

Speaking of Elt, he of course had tried to snap her out of it, only for all his efforts to fail miserably. The nun would refuse even looking at him, and every time their body even touched for a little, she would jump abruptly, putting as much distance as she could between the two of them.

“Sasha, a-are you thinking about Lisia and Emiyu? I share the blame for that as well. I… I was too weak to reject their advances… as well as yours…”

Sasha couldn't accept that reasoning.

No, all the blame lied on her. She was the one who corrupted them, and the other orphans as well. She now remembered their disturbing screams of pleasure as their nubile bodies explored each other.

_ Unforgiveable! Absolutely unforgiveable! _

Mimiru tried to comfort her as well, saying things like, “Don’t let those Arlandians get to you!”. But of course, that failed as well.

Her sins were self-evident. There was no need for anyone else to point them out.

For her last hope, she tried communing with the Chief God once again.

She was not surprised in the slightest that she was not answered.

In the end, it led her to one single, final conclusion.

She had to repent for her sins.

xXx

“Please! Hand me over to the Order right now!”

Those were the first words she uttered when she met with Astrid.

And she didn’t hesitate in the slightest to supplicate in front of her; her head touching the carpet and all.

Astrid’s expression turned to that from surprise to amusement, followed by a slight disgust as well.

“I see. It's the guilt, isn't it? Eating on your consciousness? Very well. I'll hear you out. Do take a seat though. I want to see the face of the person I'm speaking with.”

Astrid never liked any acts of kowtowing, even when she was on the receiving end.

Sasha rose her head and nodded in return before doing as she was told.

“If you truly wish for that sort of repentance, then be my guest. The Order actually had asked for you and your friends to be handed over to them. And knowing them, there would only be the stake waiting for you. A public execution, to show off their power as well as to bolster the faith of their people.”

“I'm perfectly aware of that,” Sasha replied. “To be burned by the flames of God… I-I believe that would be the fitting punishment for me.”

The Dark Priest held the hem of her skimpy skirt tightly; her body slightly shaking in the process.

Astrid took a sip of her coffee, placing the cup gently back on the plate once she was done.

“I-I was wrong…” Sasha continued. “My eyes weren't opened with my monsterization. In fact, it was the opposite. I merely drowned myself in decadence, losing my mind entirely in it. I have no excuse. I shall have to be punished for it.”

The room fell silent. There was only the sound of Astrid stirring her coffee. For Sasha, the silence seemed to last for an eternity.

“...Very well then,” the alchemist finally answered. “We certainly could use you as a bargaining chip with the Order. We give you to them so that the rest of your friends could stay in our custody. With how low their faith had been lately, they would seek for the firewood to burn so that they could rouse up their people’s fervor once more. Are you alright with being such a sacrifice?”

The fallen nun nodded, making the alchemist sigh as her frown deepened.

“...You know, I never could like self-sacrificing types like you. I suppose to a selfish human being like I am, you are our antithesis. Now, I wouldn’t bother trying to convince you that it’s not your fault or that you’re innocent. I can tell that you already made up your mind. I thought your friends, who certainly were not as burdened as you with whatever they did as monsters, could convince you to change your mind, but apparently they couldn't. And if they couldn’t, I wouldn’t even bother trying.”

She then paused, taking another sip from her cup.

“And to be honest, I found what you did with those children absolutely repulsive. I wouldn’t care if someone who did something like that to drop dead. But personally, I disliked that Fallen God person more than you for doing it.”

Sasha remained quiet. Once again, her mind shifted all the blame to her and her alone. If only she hadn’t been so weak-minded to be seduced by the Fallen God. And so on and so forth.

“Well, on the other hand, it might be interesting to see how those three would react to your decision,” Astrid continued with a slight grin. “I’m sure they’ll come to you once they hear of the news.”

“Those… three?” Sasha asked.

“My dear cute pupils,” Astrid answered with a smile. “Who knows? Maybe they would be able to convince you to change your mind.”

xXx

The news of Sasha’s decision soon spread to all the Arlandians. It was still kept secret from the general public, as no doubt there were those who wished to hurry up her execution date. As well as the other Lescatians’ for that matter. The general sentiment, both in the castle and amongst the common masses of the kingdom, was that they wanted the invaders to all be executed. Even though the grip of the Order was never that strong here, their teachings of total distrust against monsters were still adopted widely by the populace. The kingdom wasn’t like one of those coexistence countries where monsters could freely mingle with humans after all.

And so, it was the perfect chance to unveil the existence of Lilihom and her special brand of monster mana. Only that they couldn’t quite decide whether or not they should do it before or after settling the matter of the war prisoners they got from the invasion.

But now, hearing Sasha’s death wish, they decided to do it right away.

It was their last ditch effort to try and change her mind, as they had failed on their arguments against her. When the alchemist trio visited her, it only ended up with Sasha apologizing profusely to Totori to what she did to Mimi. To make matters worse, Mimi herself refused to come, saying that she was busy with her training. Totori knew her friend was traumatized by the event so she couldn’t really force the issue.

“Oh, how about this? If we can get everyone to forgive her, then she should feel better about herself!”

That was the idea Rorona gave. A terribly naive idea, Astrid noted, but it was just like her to suggest something like that.

And so they ended up planning a public gathering, where they would showcase Lilihom and everything she was capable of. They would say how monsters that possessed alchemical mana were not a threat to humans, and that they could live together with them.

It was also to be a meeting to persuade the masses to forgive the monsters that had tried to invade them.


End file.
